Don't Ever Bet on Love
by Heart's Melody
Summary: Because of a stupid bet with Zoey, Dawn has to ask each boy-Ash, Brock, Barry, Lucas, Drew, Gary, Paul-if they are in love with her. This is going to fairly humiliating, but maybe, just maybe, she will get her Prince Charming out of it...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Just a few quick bits of information that should help you understand the story more.

1) I try to update every Wednesday (although I may be a few days late sometimes), and my chapters will be longer than this one. This one's about two thousand and a half words, and the norm will be more than five thousand (hopefully!). This is short only because it's the introduction.

2) I try to keep as close to game canon as much as possible. However, I don't have time to research every little detail (high school deducts so much of your free time it's not even funny). Plus, I need to use some of those wacky show changes, because of all the juicy extra characters and plots they have. So, yes, I'm trying to keep to game canon and at the same time keep to anime canon. Correct me if I'm wrong about something!

3) My contests are like the contests in the games, just because I don't like how the anime makes the contests appear. I think the game contests are much more fun!

4) This takes place about five years after the time period the anime is at currently, so Dawn is fifteen. Her friends are all around that age--give or take a couple years--except Brock, who is twenty.

5) Pretend Piplup knows ice beam.

Enjoy!

* * *

**-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-*-**

"You know he's soooo in love with you, right?" Zoey, one of my best friends, teased me. I blushed, and Zoey giggled harder.

"Which one?" I asked, joining in on the joke.

"Oh, I don't know…how about all of them? Ash...Brock...Gary...Drew...Barry...Lucas...Paul? Should I continue?"

Ugh. Why was Zoey so right--all the time? Okay. So maybe a few of them have been acting a little weird around me for a while. But that didn't mean anything!

"Whatever," I shrugged. I leaned forward, looking back into the mirror. We were both backstage at the Hearthome contest. Zoey was dressed and ready, quick as a wink, as usual. And managed to still look amazing--as usual! But here I was still, perfecting my makeup, double checking for eyeliner smudges, lipstick on my teeth, and other small stuff. I winked at my reflection, satisfied, before turning back to Zoey. "Isn't it a little awkward seeing how all the guys you just mentioned are going to be watching our contest today?"

"Plus May!" May was our other best friend. She was an absolute angel, one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. Unfortunately, she didn't live in Sinnoh with us, so we don't get to see her as much as we'd like. I was so psyched she was coming today!

"And Misty," I sighed. Misty was such a challenge. She was...nice... I guess. But for some reason, we didn't get along as well as I wish we could. We were just such opposites. She was a gym leader, but I was a top coordinator. She was sporty, quick to speak her mind, and stubborn. I was girly, slightly naive, and frankly, I was so much sweeter. Even our hair colors were complete opposites! Not that we were outright rude to each other. We just didn't connect like I did with Zoey and May. Zoey sat there, taking in my tone.

"I know you don't like her, but Misty's not so bad!"

I scoffed. "You two just bonded over your mutual redheaded-ness."

She laughed. "Okay, you have a point." She changed the subject. "So we know now that you're more excited to see May than Misty. But which _boy_ are you most looking forward to seeing?"

I thought seriously about that one. Ash was always fun to see. He was adorable, and funny, and strong. Ash was without a doubt my best guy friend. He always will be. Brock came in a close second though, but he was four years older than me. He was twenty, for Pete's sake, and I was just fifteen. As you can imagine, it's a lot harder to really click with someone from an entirely different generation. But Brock's always been there for me. He's been there to give me advice, or just to cheer me up, and for that, I owed him the world. Now, Gary is my ex. We dated; it was fun. But it didn't really last. Okay, strike that--we had a year together. And it was one of the best years of my life. Gary was sweet, smart, rich, and _hot_. What more could a girl ask for? But we had a huge fight and now it's just not the same. I don't like to think about it. I don't know if I am pleased he is here. My heart still skips a beat each time I think about him...but nothing can change the past. And Lucas. Oh, Lucas...I refuse to believe Lucas could ever be in love with me. That's impossible--I've known him since I was four. Lucas and Dawn, that's practically incest! Drew, on the other hand, is a sexy beast. Not gonna lie. He is SO dreamy. But every girl thinks that, and even worse, he knows that every girl thinks that. Who else had Zoey accused of loving me? Oh right--Barry. Barry was a cutie, but I didn't know much about him. He was a good trainer, and I knew that because he became the newest gym leader of Oreburgh. Roark had gone on a trip to Johto, to visit Steven Stone, and obsess over rocks or something like that. Byron, Roark's father, went along with him, so Sinnoh needed two new gym leaders. Which leads me to the last person Zoey thought of: Paul, who replaced Byron, and became one of the toughest leaders in Sinnoh. Paul...wow, I haven't seen Paul in years. I wonder why he's even at this contest. I mulled over all my choices and was just about to answer Zoey's question, when I was interrupted.

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-**

Marian's voice blasted over the speakers. "Welcome, everyone, to the second to last contest before the Grand Festival! Today, we have a very interesting group of competitors. Everyone, put your hands together for Entry Number One, Zoey! Zoey is one of the best coordinators in Sinnoh. She's won the Grand Festival once already, and this contest will be her last before she is able to compete in it one more time. Here she is, our number one girl!"

Zoey stepped out onto the stage, grinning hugely and jumping into the air before holding up her fingers in a peace sign.

"Next up we have Grace! Grace is a brand new coordinator, just starting her journey. It's a little too late in the game for her to enter this year's Grand festival, but it's never too late for some good old fun and practice. Everyone, give your warmest welcome to Grace!"

The girl, Grace, was young and innocent looking. She stepped shyly onto the stage before taking a quick, modest curtsy and stepping next to Zoey to await the next contestant.

"Now, here's an exciting turn! We have boy entered into this contest, one by the name of Conway. Originally just a trainer, Conway had a change of heart after watching a few inspiring contests. Show Conway just how loud you can cheer!"

Conway quickly stepped onto the stage, looking from side to side eagerly. "I love you, Dawn!" He cried out before running quickly over to the other two coordinators.

"And last, but most certainly not least, is our fourth entry! This young lady is one of the best coordinators in Sinnoh, rivaling our previously introduced Zoey. She's one two whole Grand Festivals, and if she wins this contest she will be well on her way to winning her third. Everyone, make some noise for....Dawn!"

May jumped up and screamed her cheers as Dawn daintily traipsed on stage. She blew kisses to her audience before giggling and heading towards the other competitors. Marian took center stage herself, threw out her arms and cried, "Let the annual Hearthome contest begin!"

Dawn with her Pachirisu and Zoey with her Glameow easily dominated the appeal round. Conway stumbled by with an awkward bug type. Grace floated somewhere in between with her score, staying unnoticed. In the dance round, Dawn's Piplup tripped over itself, and was too embarrased to continue. Zoey's Glameow was delicate and dainty, Conway once again barely scraped through. Grace, however, stayed true to her name, and completely shocked everyone with her dancing Roselia. They were practically ballerinas, gliding around and twirling like twisters. In the last round, acting, Dawn was feeling nervous. She felt confident about her appeal, but the dancing was pretty bad.

_No room for mistakes, Dawn, not while everyone still here and watching, _she told herself. Pacing around backstage, she agonizingly waited through all of the other appeals for her own turn. Finally she heard her name called. She noticed Piplup looked even more nervous than she felt.

Smiling gently, she picked up the little penguin and cheerily assured it, "No need to worry!" She gave it one last kiss on the top of its head before skipping out onto the stage with her Pokemon still in her arms.

Dawn was temporarily blinded by the sudden bright lights, but when her eyes adjusted, she could focus on a row of people in the first row: her friends. They were grinning broadly, awaiting another spectacular performance from her--and she wasn't gonna let them down. Once the applause died down, she cried out, "Alright Piplup--SPOTLIGHT!" She threw her arms open wide and the Pokemon jumped gracefully out of them, twirling in midair before blasting a stream of water from its beak towards the ground that propelled it back into the air. Piplup flew up high, then landed in perfect synchronization with the water droplets that sparkled as they fell.

"A remarkable entrance!" One of the judges commented.

"Now, Piplup, flood the floor with water then use ice beam, and don't forget our secret weapon!" Dawn commanded. Piplup did as he was told, but when just a little bit of bare stage was left unfrozen, Piplup increased the flow of water and froze it all quickly so that an ice ramp was formed. With running start, the Penguin Pokemon glided on top of the self-made ice rink, gaining more and more speed as he neared the ramp. The audience held it's breath anxiously. When Piplup reached the end, he had gained enough speed and momentum to go soaring straight into the sky.

"Quickly, whirlpool and ice beam it!" Piplup obeyed, and a giant funnel was frozen midair. "Peck, now!" As the solid whirlpool started to fall, Piplup dived at it, shattering it into a million glittering pieces. The entire audience was dazzled by the scene of sparkles falling from the sky, delicately landing on the even more sparkly stage.

"Finish it off with bubblebeam," and soon rainbows of light shot through the arena, created by the sun and water and reflected by the ice. Piplup landed gracefully on the ice, finishing off its appeal with a quick figure eight and pirouette.

Complete silence. Then all of a sudden, Dawn's ears were filled with thundering, roaring applause, louder than any she'd ever received before. Dawn and Piplup blushed modestly as the judges complimented.

"Dawn and her Piplup used excellent timing and cooridination. They not only have much skill individually, but also as partners."

"What a remarkable display!"

"Dawn and her Piplup showed off a wonderful combination of beauty, speed, and power. Nicely done!"

The successful pair happily ran off stage together. Backstage, they were greeted by a smiling, proud Zoey.

"You go, girl! You have this contest in the bag!"

"Oh, Zoey, your appeal was every bit as good as mine," Dawn blushed again.

Zoey nodded, "Thanks but....yours was genius." Zoey looked at Dawn thoughtfully. "You know, Dawn, you owe me for beating me. How bout a bet?"

Dawn grinned at the challenge. "The stakes?"

"If you win-which you will, you have to do what I say. Same for you if I win."

"Agreed!" The two friends shook on it, sealing their fate.

They were interrupted by Marian's amplified voice. "Now it's time for results! First, we'd like to thank all the contestants for doing their best and..."

Dawn stopped paying attention. She couldn't breathe. She wanted this so badly. She wanted everyone to see her win. "...a big round of applause to Conway, our fourth place winner!" Dawn snapped awake, paying attention again. Everyone, including herself, cheered heartily for the awkward new coordinator.

He seemed content with his place. "I'm just glad I finally got to compete with you, Dawn!"

Marian laughed and continued, "And for our third place...Grace!" Dawn clapped for the little girl too, but inside she was shaking.

"And at last, our judges had a wry difficult time judging the top two places. But in the end they decided that second place should go to... Zoey!" Dawn turned apologetically to her friend, but the latter was smiling broadly.

"You deserve this Dawn," she cried, wrapping her arms around her.

"And give a great big cheer for our first place coordinator--DAWN!"

The cheers that came along with the announcement warmed Dawn to the very core. She couldn't believe that she was finally eligible to enter the Grand Festival! Dawn dazedly accepted her ribbon. She waved at all her fans, but reserved a special dazzling smile for the front row that held all the beat friends she had. She yelled out her thanks one last time, and ran backstage, pulling Zoey along with her.

"You were really good, Zo," Dawn said.

Zoey appreciated the compliment, but she knew Dawn had been better. "I know, but at least I get to make you my slave now!" Dawn groaned before Zoey continued, "I want you to ask and find out which of the boys you were talking about is your Prince Charming."

Dawn gasped. "Whaaaat?!"

"You heard me. I'm tired of seeing you all alone. It's getting pretty old. Yeah, I have Kenny, and it's time we've gone on double dates."

Dawn sighed. She shook on the bet, and she wasn't the type to break her word. "Okay, fine, you win." Dawn winked, "This is going to be fun. Those boys are sure all cute."

Zoey laughed. "Oh, what have I gotten those poor boys into?"

But deep down, Dawn really was excited for this challenge. She was a little tired of being alone, and she never had a real boyfriend before. When she was younger, her career was always first. But now that she was on her way to the third Grand Festival, she was ready to take a slight side trip. She was ready to fall in love.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading! Review (pretty please!) and tell me exactly what you think. I'm trying to develop a thicker skin for criticism, so I welcome it!


	2. Chapter 2

"Dawn! _Dawn!_ DAWN! _DAWN!_" Dawn heard her name screamed several times, and when she finally changed out of her contest dress she started looking for the source of the noise. She burst through the backstage door, and ended up in the brightly lit, warmly furnished entrance hall of Hearthome's contest arena. As soon as she stepped out, she was enveloped in giant bear hug.

"May, my bestest friend in the whole wide universe! How've you been?" Dawn grinned broadly at the sight of her.

"I missed you sooooooo much--when was the last time we hung out...five months ago?"

"Never gonna let it take that long again," Dawn promised.

Zoey coughed. "Hello?! I'm alive!"

Dawn and May ran over to her and pulled her into a hug so that they became a bouncing, squealing blob of girly-ness. Dawn heard a familiar laugh. "Ash!" she screamed.

"Whoa, Dawn, I think I should start wearing earplugs around you," but he hugged his best friend anyway.

"You all need to chill with the hugs," Drew smirked, flicking his hair back. He tossed a rose at Dawn, who felt her insides melt.

Dawn looked all around her, taking in the sight of all her childhood friends. She felt so happy. Everything seemed to be glowing. All her friends were grinning at her, and all of them welcomed her with a warm hug. Except, of course, Misty, who gave her a reluctant high-five, and Paul, who just nodded his greeting.

"I'm so, so, so happy you are all here," Dawn sniffed, her eyes tearing up with joy. "How about we all go out to dinner, my treat? I need to catch up with all of you--it's been too long." Everyone agreed, and together they walked down Hearthome's streets, attracting tons of attention and making everyone else crane their necks to stare at the laughing, joking, shouting party.

**-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-*-**

I led them into PokeBeat, the coolest place in Hearthome for trainers and coordinaters to chill. The building was shaped like a giant PokeBall. A little extreme in my opinion, but whatevs, the rest of it was cool enough to make up for it. The first floor was a store that sold basic trainer necessities, but also frivolous-yet-strangely-cool stuff like stylish travel clothes, fancy accessories for contests, high-tech gear, PokeBalls with unique designs, and all kinds of things every trainers wants to blow their money on. There was also a bunch of PCs for trading. The second floor was just as fun, so I walked past all the tempting store shelves and shoved my friends into the elevator. The elevator operater gaped and sweat-dropped.

I smiled charmingly at her. "Second floor, please?"

She just nodded and politely replied, "Of course. Going up."

"Wow, Dawn, Sinnoh is pretty cool," Gary, who managed to squeeze in next to me, said, flashing that daring grin at me. I hated his smile. It was so cocky, stupid, confident..._sexy_...I shook my head to clear it.

"Well, of course. I _was_ born here, you know."

He threw his arm around my casually and I couldn't stop my blush. I stumbled suddenly, and Gary's arm slipped off me. Someone pushed me! I looked around for the source.

"Oh, sorry Dawn. Guess that was an accident," Lucas said sheepishly. "Didn't mean to make you fall."

Gary shot Lucas a look that I couldn't decipher. Lucas just raised his eyebrow in response.

The elevator operator announced our arrival into the second floor. She looked relieved to see her elevator empty out.

Brock whistled. "Geez, this place is cool."

And it really was. It was a modernly designed restaurant, with chairs, tables, and decration all made from abstract shapes. The colors were black, red, and white based, like a PokeBall. The hostess led us to a big conference table, the only table in the room that would fit all of us. I snagged the seat at the head, and Zoey took the foot. At least I'd be able to see everyone. The waitress passed around the menu. I ignored it, and turned to talk with the friends sitting closest to me: Barry, May, Lucas, and Ash.

"Thanks so much for coming to the contest. It was really because of all your support that I was able to win," I told them sincerely.

"Oh, Dawn, I wouldn't have missed what might have been your last contest before the Grand Festival!" May insisted.

"Yeah! Anythig for an old friend, Besides, sitting in an old gym was getting so mundane. Did you know I ran all the way to Hearthome from Oreburgh?!" Barry shouted with his usual enthusiasm.

Lucas smiled at me, saying simply in his quiet voice, "Of course, Dawn. Anytime."

Ash was poring over the menu, but he glanced up quickly, locking eyes with me before flashing his silly grin and saying, "Dawn, don't be stupid. I've been going to your contests since I was eleven. Nothing's gonna stop me from watching my best friend win!"

I smiled at him and was about to continue the coversation when I heard a cough from somewhere along the table. Everyone was joking around...except Misty. She was glaring fiercely at her menu. I was worried and upset. Why'd she even come if she hated me so much?

We all ordered our food when the waitress came around. She was a pretty and sweet lady, and I felt sorry for burdening her with all our orders. Brock, the eternal flirt, got down on his knees and practically proposed to her, but Misty jumped and saved both their butts. That was the first time I saw Misty laugh all night!

After dinner, we all hung around for a while, still trying to chat and catch up wig each other. Gary was talking animatedly to Paul, who was sitting there stonily, not replying. Barry and Lucas were laughing over something. Zoey and Misty were trading redhead jokes, Brock was informing May of some new Pokemon care technique, and Drew was trying to draw her attention away from Brock and back to himself--the little manwhore! That left just me and Ash. I saw Zoey shoot me some looks, and I knew what she was implying.

"So, Ash, how has it been going? What have you been up to lately?"

Ash shrugged, "Oh you know...just training my Pokemon. The usual stuff." He looked around cautiously before lowering his voice, "But, Dawn, I don't want to talk about that stuff. Do you think we could go somewhere...quieter?"

My heart skipped a beat. "Of-of c-course!" I grabbed his arm (when did he get muscles?) and pulled him a little ways off, to an empty booth in the restaurant. I slid next to him and shyly looked up into his dark eyes and fluttered my eyelashes at him. "What was it you wanted?"

**-*****-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-**

Ash blinked. _Whoa_, he thought. _When did Dawn get so...pretty?_ Ash shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about such things. He cleared his throat before answering, "Well, I was kind of wanting to talk to you about something."

Dawn nodded, unable to speak. She couldn't believe that she was gonna complete her bet with Zoey so quickly.

"I don't want to impose or anything."

Dawn nodded again, inching closer to him.

"It's just that...you're my best friend. Right? Friends forever."

Dawn nodded again, feeling like a bobblehead. She scooched so close to

Ash that their arms and legs were pressed together.

"So do you think that maybe--"

He were cut off by a loud voice. "Hi! Mind if I joined you?"

Ash's face lit up, while Dawn felt her smile slide off her face. She moved hurriedly away from Ash, and Misty slipped into the seat across from him.

"Mist! It's so good to see you again." Ash said happily. Dawn silently nodded in agreement.

"So what were ya guys talking about before?"

Ash blushed. "Oh, you know, stuff."

"Don't lie to me, Ash Ketchum! I know you too well."

"How is 'stuff' a lie? That's exactly what we were talking about!"

"Oh, please. 'Stuff' isn't why you were talking about." Misty sneered.

"Says who?! Why do you always have to boss me around?"

Dawn was getting a headache from the bickering. She interrupted, "Shut up, the both of you!"

They gaped at her. Misty flushed and retorted, "Who are you to tell me what to do?"

Ash was surprised with Misty's behavior. He hurried to defend his gentler female friend. "Look, Misty, there's no need to yell."

"Of course! Go on her side." Misty gasped.

"I'm not going on her side. There shouldn't even be sides! We shouldn't be fighting."

Misty was still angry. "It's Dawn's fault."

Dawn's jaw dropped. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what? Nevermind. The two of you make me sick." Misty said. Dawn saw pain and...something else...flash on Misty's face before the ginger-haired girl stomped away. Dawn and Ash both watched, shocked, as their friend ran down the stairs and out of the restaurant. The rest of the group looked at them, confused, but Dawn and Ash could no better explain the situation to them than they could to themselves.

"She...just got mad. Out of nowhere, and we don't know why," was all either of them could offer.

The party was somewhat dampened after that. Nobody liked seeing a friend upset. Dawn threw down her money to pay for the admittedly large bill, and ushered her group out of PokeBeat. It was nighttime in Sinnoh, and the stars were sparkling high above their heads. Dawn tilted her head up to face the stars, watching them while and thinking muddled thoughts.

_It's so beautiful--it's like a dream. I wish...I wish I had a boyfriend to watch the stars with me. _This was the first time she had ever admitted to herself that she wanted a boyfriend. She had never cared before. Boys had always made good friends and advisers, but now it was different. She watched Zoey and Kenny, who were walking slowly behind the majority of the group with their arms around each other, and she felt lonely. Lonely and jealous. _That would be so romantic. We would spend all our days watching stars. _Dawn imagined herself with a mysterious boy, whom she didn't try to pretend was someone specific. She imagined that she and the boy were strolling by themselves through the streets, hand in hand. She imagined the boy wrap his arms around her waist to pull her closer and kiss her softly on the cheek. She shivered at the thought.

"It's cold out." Dawn jumped at the sound of the voice. She didn't know anyone was walking next to her. She looked at the source of the voice, and was surprised to find Paul's eyes meet her own.

"Whaaa..."

Paul looked at her impassively. "It's a cold night." He shrugged off his jacket and handed it to her.

Dawn blushed. Wasn't that something boyfriends were supposed to do? But she took it anyway, because Paul was right. It was chilly out. "Um, thanks," she told him.

He shrugged again. "I'm used to the cold. You need that more than I do. Don't get it dirty."

"Wow," she teased him, "You talk a lot."

He raised his eyebrow at her and said nothing in reply. She hated how attractive she found his mysterious silences. It was such a typical tall-dark-handsome, strong-yet-silent kind of cliched attraction.

Dawn noticed that the rest of the group was saying goodbye. Had they really already walked all the way to her apartment? Dawn looked at the jacket, then at Paul, and he said, "Keep it. You might need it later. But like I said, _don't get it dirty_." Dawn smiled, shaking off his cold tone, and gave him a hug goodbye, which he stoically recieved and gruffly returned. She ran to each of her friends, hugging them all goodbye, except the girls, who were going to sleepover. Ash lifted her up enthusiastically and twirled her around once before setting her back down laughingly, Gary wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly, Brock took her into a warm, quick embrace, Lucas mussed up her hair after his hug, Drew left a rose in her hands, Barry jumped up and down, causing her to bounce around with him in his arms, and Kenny blatantly refused her hug, condescendingly--but jokingly--saying he didn't need one from "DeeDee."

Dawn and her girl friends waved goodbye one last time before rushing into the building to escape the cold.

**-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-*-**

Zoey, May and I all stumbled through my apartment door, laughing as May tripped. They flopped on my bed waiting as I pulled out a huge pile of blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows from my walk-in closet. Yeah, I had a sweet life. A place to myself, and a nice one at that: I had a kitchen, two bathrooms, a master bedroom and a guest room, and a den. Guess contest award money really builds up.

"I hate you, Dawn. Your place rocks! Why does your mom let you live on your own?" May asked.

Zoey answered for me, "'Cause she thinks our Dawn is _responsible_. As if," she laughed.

I stuck my tongue out at her and tossed all the beddings at her. She toppled to the floor and groaned. "My mom thinks it would be a good learning experience for me...you know, handling my own bills, my own money, cleaning up my own house."

"I'm seriously considering moving in with you."

I smiled widely at both my friends and told them, "You guys are always welcome here."

Zoey sat up and pushed the blankets off her. "Enough about the boring stuff! I saw you with Ash...how's the bet going so far?" she inquired slyly.

May looked confused. "It's a bet Zoey and I had. I have to ask Ash, Brock, Barry, Lucas, Drew, Gary and Paul if they're in love with me," I explained.

"Not exactly. I'm editing it. I want you to _get_ one of them to love you."

I gasped. "That's so unfair!!"

"Yeah, Zo, you don't want Dawn to make a total slut out of herself," May pointed out. _Finally, someone who doesn't think I'm a slut already_, I thought to myself, thinking of the way Misty had been glaring at me earlier.

"Fine," Zoey sighed, defeated. "But one of those boys better like you."

I looked away. That's what I had been worrying about. It was one thing to be rejected, but to be rejected by seven guys, one after the other?? My pride wouldn't be able to handle it.

May caught the expression on my face and hurried to hug me. "Dawn, of course one of them is going to love you. You're sweet and cute, you're a kickass coordinator, and you're hot."

"Don't forget loyal!" Zo added.

"Thanks, guys. This means a lot to me," I smiled at them gratefully.

Zo kicked off her combat boots and strecthed out on my bed. "So, you never got the chance to tell us what you and Ash were sneaking off to do."

"You make it sound so...wrong," I giggled. "It was not really like that. I mean, I got some flirting in I guess, but...we got interrupted."

"Oh yeah! I saw that. Misty looked so mad. What was up with that? She's can be a little cool sometimes, but I know she's really just a softie inside." May commented as she pulled her bandana off her head and brushed out her chestnut locks.

I nodded, pretending I knew about Misty's soft side and continued, "I think she got mad at me for being with Ash. The way she was saying things...I don't know, that's just how it seemed to me."

"Wait!" Zoey sat up suddenly. "You think _Misty _likes _Ash_?"

May was cracking up at the idea. "That's impossible. I've seen those two together. They fight like cats and dogs."

"Or like an old married couple," I pointed out. I couldn't even tell if I was upset over the competition. I wasn't sure how much I liked Ash. He was a blast to be around, but sometimes, when he looked at me, I didn't get that gooey feeling in my stomach that I always got when Gary looked at me.

"It would be cool if you ended up with Ash though," Zoey said thoughtfully. "Then you wouldn't have to continue the bet."

"Seriously?!"

"Well, yeah. The biggest thing for me is that you find someone who cares about you. I want to see my best friend happy." Zoey finished.

I teared up a bit. Damn me and my over-emotional-ness.

"Kinda like how happy you are with Kenny?" May teased as she started unpacking her bag.

"Exactly!" Zoey said, her face lighting up as she smiled dreamily. And I'd never thought I'd see the day when Zoey, of all people, would do something so girl as getting a boyfriend.

"Well, May, what about you? No special man?" I asked. May hadn't said anything about her boys all night.

May ducked her head, digging around in her bag for something. "Well..." she said hesitantly, "there really isn't anyone. I'm not half as interesting as you guys," she finished laughingly. But was that a hint of sadness I saw cross her eyes?

I don't like seeing my friends unhappy. "We don't need men to make us happy."

"Of course not!" Zoey cried out, zooming out of dreamland. "We're too good for boys. _They_ should chase after _us_."

"Says the girl who wants me to harass boys into loving me," I said wryly.

May leaned back, finally done unpacking. "Hmmm, maybe we really are just a couple of desperate teenage girls."

"Maybe..." I mumbled.

We all pulled our pajamas out and changed. After washing our faces and brushing our teeth and all that fun stuff, I spread out the sleeping bags, lining them up side by side. At our sleepovers, we always used them as mattresses on the floor, and slept next to each other wih blankets and pillows. We were just that close. I lay down next to my friends. Just as I was finally getting sleepy, Zoey piped up.

"How 'bout one last bet?"

May grinned. "What now?"

"I bet Dawn will end up with Ash."

May countered, "Fine, then, since you think Dawn's true love will be the first boy, I bet it will be the last."

"Ugh, May, I can't believe you. I really hope you lose...I don't want to have to go through all that." I groaned.

"Okay, Dawn, change of bet--you don't have to necessarily ask them straight up if they love you, but you do have to find your true love."

"Whatever. Can I sleep now?"

"Sweet dreams, Dawn darling."

"I hate you."

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-**

The next morning, the three girls woke up to the sound of music. Literally, because one of Dawn's neighbors decided that it was right to practice electric guitar at 10 o'clock in the morning. Dawn yawned and stretched, accidentally whacking Zoey in the face with her arm and kicking May in the gut with her leg.

"Oof!" They groaned simultaneously.

"Morning, sunshine!" Dawn said cheerfully. "Up and at 'em!" She pulled the blankets of their bodies. The other two girls shivered but sat up. They blearily stumbled into Dawn's kitchen, walking into bags and tripping over clothing on their way. Dawn set out plates for them, and poured her guests cups of orange juice.

As the girls dug in May asked, "So what are we doing today? You know that I'm staying here to until you guys finish the Grand Festival."

"Well," Dawn said thoughfully as she spread butter on her bagel, "You could help us train and watch us practice."

"Yeah, I'm not even guaranteed a spot at the festival yet, remember? The last contest is next week." Zoey added.

May pouted into her cereal. "Aw, come on. Can we please do something a little more exciting today? I haven't been in Sinnoh in months and all you wanna do is train?!" Dawn and Zoey looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Even though the big store is in Veilstone, there are a few boutiques here. Besides, Zoey and I need rockin' outfits for the contest!"

"Okay, and we could go to Amity Square--that way, we could still have fun and bring our Pokemon along too."

May laughed. Her friends had one-track minds. "All right, that's a fair enough compromise." She tossed her dirty dishes into the sink and jumped up excitedly. "What are you waitin for? Let's go!"

"If she comes acting like this much of a slob, I'm gonna kick her outta my house." Dawn mumbled to Zoey

"Does she realize that she's still in her pajamas?"

"I heard that!" May yelled from Dawn's bathroom. The girls giggled and got dressed and ready for the new day.

Walking arm-in-arm down the streets of Hearthome, the girls stopped and entered every single shop they saw. Dawn bought shoes there, Zoey bought sunglasses here, and May found a new bandana at that place all the way overthere. After letting two idle hours slip by, Dawn finally pulled her friends into herfavorite store.

"It's the best in Hearthome," she sighed, breathing in the scent of the store as they stepped inside. It was a girls' store, stiffed full with racks of all kinds of clothing: fancy dresses, casual dresses, ball gowns, business suits, shorts and skirts, t-shirts and tabk tops, furry jackets and even bikinis. May and Zoey felt their jaws drop.

"It's heaven," May stated simply.

They rushed at the racks, running through each and every one and soon, their arms were so loaded with merchandise that they could barely walk. For another hour, the girls took turns trying on different outfits. First May stepped out of the changing room in an adorable red skirt and spaghetti strap combo. Zoey completely countered her girlyness with her punk skinny jeans, graphic tee and leather jacket.

"You guys looked so sick! It's my turn!" Dawn cried as she dashed into a stall. Her friends applauded when she stepped out in a casual dress and tights, twirling and strutting down the imaginary runway.

"We have to buy these outfits, you guys," Dawn urged after she changed back.

Zoey protested, "But this isn't anywhere near formal enough for the contest."

"YOU'RE BUYING IT AND THAT'S FINAL," Dawn insisted.

"We better listen, Zo, before she eats us," May joked. "How bout you guys find something cute and I'll just watch and wait here?"

They nodded entusiastically and raced through the store again. May sighed but smiled thinking, _This could take a while..._

After Zoey and Dawn chose their contest outfits (it's a surprise what they look like!), the girls bought the previous outfits and put them on right away. They left the store with arms weighed down by stuffed shopping bags.

"You guys," May whined, "my arms hurt and so do my feet. Pretty, pretty please can we go to your apartment and drop of these bags before heading to Amity Square?"

Dawn sighed. Her apartment was on the other side of the city, and just as she was about to explain this to her lazy friend they heard a voice calling to them from a distance.

"Hey you guys! Where'd you get all those bags?" the voice shouted.

Dawn and Zoey and May whirled around, searching for the voice.

"What the heck?"

"Where is that voice coming from?"

"Dawn, it's your conscience telling you that you need to leave our bags at your apartment!"

Zoey cracked up and Dawn was about to retort when someone poked her in the side, causing her to shriek and jump five feet in the air.

"Ouch!" Ash yelled when she dropped her bags on his feet.

Dawn recovered herself and squealed, completely forgetting that Ash made her drop her precious outfits. She threw her arms around him and gave him a bear hug. Zoey and May exchanged a significant look but gave Ash their own welcoming hugs, albeit theirs were noticeably less enthusiastic.

"So what are you doing here all by yourself, Ashy?" May teased

"Oh, you know," he looked down, scuffing his sneaker against the dirt, "stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Zoey pressed.

Ash looked at the sky instead and fumbled for a reply.

"So, Ash, how about you come to Amity Square with us?" Dawn rescued him.

He nodded willingly and Zoey grinned wickedly. "Okay, Ash, you can hang with us...if you carry our bags!"

He nodded again, undaunted, and held out his arms for the girls' bags to be strung on. He gasped as the surprisingly heavy weight dragged his arms down. He struggled to keep them straight. The girls giggled at his expression and pulled him ahead, towards the park.

Dawn tossed a PokeBall at Zoey and one at May. "You guys need cute Pokemon to enter, and frankly, mine arethe cutest!" she winked.

Ash frowned slightly when she didn't lend her a PokeBall, and it wasn't just from having to carry the bags. "I always kinda thought my pokemon more as cool than cute..."

"Oh," Dawn laughed, "Your Pikachu is definitely cute enough to get in!" and the little yellow mouse, who was riding Ash's hat the entire time, squeaked happily, "Pika pi!" in agreement.

When they finally reached the park, Ash begged the lady behind the counter to wath the bags for him. She only agreed because she thought that his Pikachu was the cutest one she'd ever seen. Zoey released Dawn's Pachirisu, May showed Dawn's Buneary, and Dawn herself got in with Piplup. Once they managed to sneak past the guard and were safely deep within the square, they released the rest of their not-so-cute Pokemon. Luckily, it was already late in the day and no one was around. Watching their Pokemon play togther, the young trainers settled down on the grass.

"So, Ash, long time no see!" May said.

Ash grinned, "Oh yeah, a whole day without you felt like a year."

"Try to contain your tears, please!"

"Yeah well we barely got to talk yesterday. It was a fun party, but hanging out with ten different people is tough." he commented.

Dawn lay back on the grass, her blue hair splayed out around her pale face. Zoey lay down so that their bodies formed a straight line, and May lay down between their heads. Dawn smiled and patted invitingly at the other spot next to her. Ash sighed goodnaturedly but lay down anyway, and they formed a weird sort of four-pointed star. They were quiet for a while, just watching the clouds float across the pink evening sky.

"You know what's weird? The fact that Paul was at our little party yesterday." Zoey said.

"Oh my gosh, didn't you guys always say that Paul was so mean when you were younger?" May asked.

"He's still pretty mean now," Dawn said ruefully.

Ash defended his friend quickly, "Well he's definitely not like what he was before! He's stopped callin me pathetic, he doesn't yell at his Pokemon all the time, and he tries to give weak Pokemon a chance before releasing them."

Zoey snorted, "Oh yeah, he's a real angel now."

"I think it was because of that day, remember Ash? When he lost to Cynthia, and then you beat her? Pokemon champ!" Dawn said.

"Yeah, that was definitely it," Ash replied, blushing a little at the praise. "That was the best way to show him that his way of training was wrong and mine was right. But I'm not champ anymore remember? Cynthia beat me for it again just a year later..."

"A year is a long time to spend being champ! Some people even get knocked out of the spot after a week!" May argued.

Ash just shrugged, and they fell back into silence.

Zoey was the one to break it again when she suggested, "We should play a game or something. I'm getting kind of bored just lying down here!"

Ash jumped up readily. "I'm always up for that! What are we gonna play?"

"Hide and seek?"

"Nah, let's play hide and go seek, so we get some running in. DAWN'S IT!" Ash yelled suddenly. He and Zoey bolted right away, and May was quick to follow.

**-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-***

I got up, grumbling to myself about how unfair my friends were. I honestly tried to look for them (by that, I mean I spent about fifteen minutes looking and wasted the rest of the time smelling flowers and picking berries for Poffins). It started getting darker, so I called out, "Guys! I give up!" but no one answered. I pulled out one of the fresh berries, and shook it in the air while whistling. I heard rustling, and then some fumbling noises, and finally a loud "PIKA!" and saw a thunderbolt strike the sky, and ran towards the source of all the commotion. I found Ash behind a bush, looking rather toasty and Pikachu struggling to escape his arms.

I smirked and sauntered over to him, tagging his electrocuted nose. Okay, maybe I was being a little flirty--shoot me. Ash shook off the shocks and moaned.

"Aw, man! I lost to a bunch of girls," He said, playfully shoving me.

I shoved back. "You know the rules! Now you have to help me find Zo and May."

He tagged along, cheerful and up for the challenge, as usual. We went through the same path I'd been searching for the past half hour, but I didn't mind. I was just glad that I had some alone time with Ash. Now I didn't have to deal with those secretive lookes my friends kept shooting each other.

Ash pied up conversationally, "So, how have you been, Dawn? I miss the good ol' days when we traveled everywhere together."

"Tell me about it. Life seemed so easy back then!"

He looked concerned. "Why, Dawn, is something wrong now?"

"Well...Ash..." I looked away, not finishing the sentence. What was wrong with me?! This was the perfect spot to win the bet at! We were in a park surrounded by sweet-smelling flowers, the sun was setting, casting a magical glow on everything and creating shadows that danced all over the place. The sky was a deeper rose shade now. Not exactly the pink color I loved, but close enough. However, Ash didn't push me to speak. Instead, his eyebrows furrowed. He was thinking hard about something.

"Dawn, there's something that I've been trying to talk to you about." He met my gaze. "In fact, this is why I've stuck around Hearthome for so long."

My heartrate increased slightly.

Ash took a deep breath before continuing, "Dawn. I...I'm leaving."

WHAT?!

"I can't stay here anymore. I completed the League, and made it. I don't know what's left for me here."

"There's always--" my voice caught in my throat, "--the battle tower."

Ash smiled sadly. "I just don't feel like it's right for me. I want to be the master of Pokemon. Somehow, beating ten people at once doesn't seem right to me. It's more like a show of strength, more than anything. There's no skill needed for that kinda stuff."

"But why?"

"I know this is a good choice. I have to do what's best for me and my Pokemon." He hesitated, "But I do regret one thing. I don't want to leave you here Dawn. You're one of my best friends." And he took my hand.

Maybe there's still hope!

"Ash, can I be completely honest with you? I need to say something before you leave."

He nodded and I blurted, "Ash, don't you love me?"

He looked somewhat surprised. "Of course I do! You know I'd do anything for you!"

Not good enough for me. "But I mean do you love_ love_ me?" I squeezed my eyes shut. embarrassed.

He stopped walking pulled his hand out of mine. "No, I don't love you like that."

And I felt stupid. Stupid, disappointed, bitter, hurt...in a situation like this, there was only one thing left to do: run.

I ran hard and fast away from him. I ran straight into my friends. I quickly looked up at them through my tear-filled eyes. "Sorry, but...I can't be here."

My friends looked surprised. They turned to Ash--wait, when did Ash get here? Did he really follow me? I didn't care anymore. It was too late. He'd already hurt me so bad...I couldn't think about it, so I kept running. As I got further away, I heard my girls turn on him. "What did you _do_?" they shrieked.

"I didn't even get to finish explaining myself to her!" He shouted back.

I didn't care if he wasn't done. Done what? Hurting me? Whatever. Ash Ketchum. I am so over you. I repeated those words to myself, hoping it would be true. I was so caught up in my thoughts, I didn't even notice when I stumbled into someone else.

"Dawn?" that familiar, deep, comforting male voice asked.

* * *

**A/N: **Gasp! Who could it be? So, yay! finally done with this. It's long--woohoo! I'm sorry if it dragged a bit. But I swear, this chapter was only like this cause it is a bit of a filler. Let's face it, we all love Ash, but this Dawn-Ash thing is not gonna work out for me, which is why he is first on my list. Gotta get that out of the way, and gotta fill you in on some details, fill in some backround, set up some foreshadowing, develop my characters...but the plot twists I have planned out...they're so insane you'll message me and be like, "WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOUR MIND!?" So review and tell me if I'm getting better! Thanks so much for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

**-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-*-**

"Dawn?"

I know that voice! I looked up into those familiar slanted eyes and blushed. "Oh, um, sorry, Brock." I did my best to hide my face from his, so he wouldn't see the tears.

"Are you okay? Why are you crying?" He asked in the same caring tone I've been used to hearing for the past five years. Damn, he already saw the tears. Brock was so intuitive. It was amazing how much he noticed--and also slightly freaky.

I smiled, "Oh, it's nothing. You know me...always the dramaqueen."

He touched my arm lightly. "You're a terrible liar. And that smile is so fake I'm pretty sure even someone as thick-headed as Ash could tell."

He just had to bring up Ash--of all people! I sighed, giving up. Brock sat down and patted the grass next to him. I copied, then leaned against his shoulder, suddenly exhausted. All this shopping and searching had made me so tired and I didn't even notice. Until I was made a fool of, that is.

"Don't you wanna talk about it? I remember when you were little you always needed to talk about everything," Brock said.

I replied, "I still do talk all the time. It's just that...I don't wanna talk about this one. It makes me feel like a real idiot."

He just sat there, waiting patiently for me to continue. And after a while, I did.

"I made a mistake," then switched topics to, "Did you know Ash is leaving Sinnoh?"

Brock nodded thoughtfully before saying, "Yeah. And it's about time, to be completely honest."

"What?" I gasped. "How can you say that?" I moved away from him, sliding over so that I faced him. Now I could look look into his eyes (what eyes?) and search his expression.

"He's been here since he was twelve. It's about time he moved on to something new. He's a Pokemon trainer, Dawn, it's what he does, who he is."

"He's leaving us. That's just wrong!"

"Wait a sec, what's this mistake you were talking about?" Brock squinted his eyes at me, which I also thought was impossible seeing how squinty they already were. Okay, enough with the eye-jokes. Brock was just trying to help me.

"IactuallythoughtAshlovedme." The words spilled from my mouth. I have no idea where they came from.

Brock nodded, his face not betraying any emotion.

"AndIaskedhimifhedid..."

Another nod from Brock.

"Andhesaidno. I ran away because I felt _so_ stupid." It felt slightly better getting this out of my system.

Brock mulled over this for a while, and as I waited for him to respond, I pulled some grass up. It was finally dark out, I noticed. _Thank God this horrible day is almost over_, I thought to myself.

He finally said, "Dawn, I think you're overreacting."

"WHAT?"

"You heard me. So what if Ash said no? Did you even find out why he said no?"

...

"Exactly. Now I think you better get back there and talk to Ash like a reasonable 15-year-old girl." And he grabbed my arm and jumped up suddenly, yanking me with him. I don't know why, but I let him pull me along. After maybe ten minutes of more walking, we finally neared my friends, who were standing around, apparently yelling at each other. Zoey had her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at Ash. May was yelling something at him, and it looked like he was trying to respond, but she wouldn't let him interrupt her tirade. What the heck was going on?

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-**

May and Zoey let their friend brush past them. They would let her collect herself and then they would interrogate her. As for Ash, if that good-for-nothing did anything to hurt their sweet blue-haired friend, he would wish he never stayed in Hearthome for so long.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" Zoey shouted. She lunged at the boy, ready to slap him, but May grabbed her arm and held her back and said, "Look, Zo, no need for violence. We can just calmly ask him."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" May reiterated Zoey's words.

"Look, I don't even know!" Ash yelled back defensively. "We were just having a normal conversation, when all of a sudden she gets all weird and then asks me if I'm in love with her!"

Zoey groaned. "You moron--what did you tell her?"

"No. What was I supposed to do?"

"All you said was no?" May asked, surprised.

"Yeah! And it's not like I said it in a mean tone or anything. You know I wouldn't do that to Dawn--she's like my little sister!"

May absorbed this. "I wonder why she was so upset then..." almost to herself.

Zoey sighed in frustration. "Look, Ash, I know it may not seem like a big deal to you, but if you really knew Dawn, then you'd know it was a big deal to her. Dawn's sweet and cute and fluffy and all that, but deep down, she is _proud_. She's proud of who she is and what she does--and she should be. I'm not saying she shouldn't, but can you imagine how you just made someone that proud and accomplished feel?"

Ash looked blankly at her.

Zoey rolled her eyes and continued, stepping closer to Ash, who flinched away slightly. "Please be a man. I'm not gonna hit you and even I f I do it shouldn't hurt you," Zoey said. "Okay. Dawn is not used to rejection. She hasn't lost a contest in Arceus-knows-how-long, she has lots of fans, and she has great friends like us. Then out of nowhere you crush everything that was so bright and shiningly perfect by rejecting her love. Understand now?"

"Wait, Dawn loves me?"

Zoey and May could not believe how incredibly thick-headed Ash was being.

"Of course she loves you! How could you not see?"

"Maybe she needs to read a book on sending clearer signals cause that definitely was not the kind of vibe I was getting."

"What the hell?" Zory spluttered.

"Who even says 'vibe' these days?" May shrieked.

Ash glared at them. "Well, it's true! Dawn doesn't love me. I would know. I don't get why she would ask me if I love her."

"Uh--maybe cause she loves you and wants you to return the favor?!"

"But we've always been just like siblings. You wouldn't understand. Besides..."

"What?" the two girls demanded he continued.

"I'm not even going to be staying in Sinnoh. Long-distance relationships don't work."

Both girls gasped. "I can't believe you didn't tell us sooner!" Zoey said sadly.

May was beyond sad. She was livid. "YOU IDIOT! You stupid, dense boy! Why didn't you tell me that before?"

Ash opened his mouth, but was cut off.

"And all this time I was yelling at you, thinking you were brushing off our beautiful Dawn! You should have said somethig!"

Ash tried to respond again but was loudly interrupted by May.

"And all this time I was thinking you were just a great big jerk! You really need to learn to speak up!"

Ash didn't even bother opening his mouth. He let his friend rant and patiently awaited for her to run out of steam.

Dawn walked in on the scene. May ran to her and threw her arms around her neck, almost causing the girl to fall over. Dawn smiled slightly and hesitantly hugged her back, her eyes on the ground. Zoey could see the blush forming on her cheeks, and noticedthat Ash seemed more awkward than usual. Zoey, who hadn't moved from where she was glaring at Ash, grabbed him by the arm an pulled him over to her two friends.

"Ouch, Zo, watch it!" He squirmed.

"We're gonna sort out this whole mess, whether you like it or not!"

Dawn stepped away from May and up to Ash. She blushed. Brock walked out from behind the trees to join them. May squealed a greeting and Zoey welcomed him with a smile, but the young man paid them no attention. He had eyes for only Dawn, and he gave her a comforting, significant look. Zoey was surprised. Had Dawn been with him before she came here? Hmm, maybe Brock will be the one. Zoey's thoughts were interrupted by Dawn's uncharacteristically quiet voice.

"Ash...I'm sorry for running out on you like that."

He grinned, always so readily forgiving. "No problem, Dawn! But I think I have something to apologize for too."

She looked at him questioningly and he continued, "I wish I gave you a warning about me leaving you behind. I mean, we are best friends, right?"

Dawn nodded enthusiastically, and Ash was relieved to see that their friendship wasn't affected by the past awkwardness.

"So I really should have said something sooner," he said, "But this is really is what's gonna be good for me, you'll see! I'm gonna become the champion if Kanto! I haven't done it yet. I need to be champion of Johto and Hoenn too." his face put on a dreamy expression. "Then I'll really be the Pokemon master," and his Pikachu, who had been crouching behind a rock during all this drama, ran and leaped onto Ash's head, probably glad that he could finally understand something that was going on.

"Pikachu!" he chimed joyfully.

"Plus, Misty promised she would go with me and help me on the journey again." Ash added after ruffling his Pokemon's head.

Brock looked up interestedly. "Wow, really, Misty? That should be exciting, huh Ash?"

"Yeah! I'm so psyched. It's gonna be as good as old times."

Dawn was hurt by this. Wasn't she good enough? Was hanging with Misty really more fun than being Sinnoh with her?

Ash must have noticed Dawn's change in demeanor because he ran over to hug his friend. "But I'll always remember the good times here with you. You can bet on it!" he said quickly.

Dawn turned into his chest. "I'm really going to miss you, Ash."

"I know. You too," he said quietly.

Dawn felt a tug on her arm. "We should go. It's already nighttime and we need to get back to your apartment." Zoey said, pulling her gently out of Ash's embrace, because she didn't want her friend to get so attached to a boy who could never really reciprocate her feeling, a boy who was leaving them all behind, a boy who has hurt her. Ash hurting Dawn's heart was something Zoey never wanted either of her friends to endure again.

Dawn nodded submissively, turning away quickly from Ash. May saw her eyes, and to her surprise, they didn't look heartbroken. The only expression they held was...resolve? And determination, and...peace? _That's weird,_ she thought.

"You'll be at the docks to say goodbye, though, right?" Ash questioned. "I'm leaving tomorrow for Canalave. It'll take me about a day to get there, and after taking the ferry, I should be back in Pallet after another day."

"Of course we will be, Ash," May smiled sadly at him. The three girls waved goodbye to him and Brock and headed back to Dawn's apartment.

Brock and Ash stood there for a while, watching them leave.

After a few more moments of silence, Ash turned to his friend/mentor and remarked, "Man, girls are crazy, huh?" That was his only reflection on the past hour or so.

"Yet we can't live without 'em," came Brock's simple reply.

**-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-*-**

I sighed, half glad that we finally reached the apartment, but mostly worn out by the day's events. The girls echoed my sentimets, sinking to the plush carpet ground, tired from carrying all their shopping bags back here.

We just lay there for the longest time, catching our breath and not saying anything. Our walk here was pretty quiet, too. Pulling myself back up into sitting position, I beckoned to May and Zo, silently telling them to move back into the room where we all crashed the other night.

May threw down her bags and plopped facedown on the bed. Zoey followed, but just lay down on her back, as not to squish the sunglasses. I chuckled tiredly, and followed suit.

"What a day..." May said.

I just groaned, because for the second time today, I didn't feel like talking. Wow, world record. I should get a prize.

Zoey just nodded. We remained silent until I felt like I wanted to explode.

"Okay, I can't take this mopey-ness anymore!!" I shouted. They started and turned their shocked eyes to me.

Zoey snorted. "This 'mopey-ness' is for you!"

"Yeah!" May cried as she shot up, full of energy again. "We thought you had a rough day and needed some downtime to..." May glanced at Zoey unsurely.

"You know, to chill." Zoey covered for her. But I knew my friends better than that. I knew exactly what they were thinking. I laughed and they were even more freaked.

May threw a pillow at my face, saying loudly, "What the heck is up with you?!"

I caught it before it could mess up my hair and cuddled it, and curled up on the bed so that I could get more comfy. I needed to before I could get through this lengthy explanation. "Well, I'm still pretty unsure. I was upset at first, definitely. But then I ran into Brock, as you can tell."

"Yeah what was up that? It was kind of random." Zoey remarked.

"Not really. I mean he is a breeder, and he does study a lot of Pokemon behavior--it wold make sense for him to be at Amity Square. But anyway! He explained to me why it makes more sense for Ash to be in Kanto with Misty." I shuddered at the mention of her name and my friends giggled.

"What did he say that was so eye-opening?" Zoey asked as she stretched out on the bed.

"Uhhh, actually, now that I think about it, he didn't really say much. I did most of the talking."

"Wow, shocker," and I pushed Zoey off the bed for that.

"What? Brock's always been like that. The one who's always been calm when any of us young'uns weren't." I pointed out. "That's one of the best things about Brock."

"Is Brock next on your hitlist?" Zoey asked.

"Are you sure about continuing this bet?" May worried.

"Im not going to lose to Zoey!" I protested. "And I promise I'll take Brock's rejection more calmly."

"How do you know it's gonna be a rejection?"

"And what made you so upset before?"

I decided to answer both of them with one reply. "I think it was mostly just cause I was so confident that Ash was gonna love me. But see, I know better now and I'm not gonna be as obsessive about it ever again!"

May and Zoey cheered in approval. I kept going, "Ash is...like a brother to me. I see that now, and while I look back on what happened, I think that it didn't actually hurt that Ash was saying he didn't love me. I think what did hurt was that he was saying he was leaving me."

"Us."

"Whatever. I am his best friend!"

"We."

"_Whatever! _My point is...I got smart! I'm officially over Ash!"

Zoey looked relieved. Guess she didn't want me to be mad at her for forcing her into this bet. But I honestly wasn't, now that I knew how to handle everything. I think I could totally make this bet fun!

"I'm tired and we have to get up early tomorrow so we can say bye to that Pokemon-obsessed blockhead. Let's get to bed," May yawned. She and Zoey departed for the guest room to pack their new stuff into their respective drawers and to grab their change of pajamas. I pulled off my beanie and walked over to the mirror, undoing the hairclips that I always wore. As I sat in front of my vanity and brushed my long blue hair, I mulled over the boys that were left before I could win the bet.

Drew...oh, that sexy hunk of man. I giggled quietly to myself. I think I'll leave him for last. He was so handsome it was intimidating. I'd be afraid to find out what he actually thinks of me...whether it be good or bad.

Gary...ugh, don't wanna think about him. Yes, he too is a sexy hunk of man, but that bastard doesn't deserve my attention right now. He's at the end of the list, too.

Paul...oh, Paul would be too easy: he's a clear 'no'. We just started being friends; there is no way he actually likes me now. And even though he lost his frosty exterior, he is still pretty distant. He should be placed somewhere near the front of the list, or the middle.

Lucas...another old friend of mine. He's in the front of the list too, because he'll probably react the way Ash did. Might as well get rid of all the rejections while I could.

Brock, I would get over with him tomorrow. I had no idea how he would react.

Who was left?? Oh yeah--Barry! Poor kid. I kept forgetting about him...I think I should ask him after Brock, just so I don't forget again and lose Zoey's bet by default by forgetting someone.

I finished untangling my thick locks, and the girls traipsed back into the room, fully outfitted in their pajammies. They yawned sleepily, and pulled out the blankets and pillows from on top of my bed, where we had dumped them. I changed quickly, and by the time I got out of the bathroom, they had set up and were conked out on my bedroom floor. I smiled softly to myself and sneaked into my own comfy bed. They wouldn't notice if I spent one night there, I thought as my eyes drifted close. The last thought that crossed my mind before I fell into sleep's deep embrace was

_To__morrow was going to be interesting..._

* * *

**A/N: **Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry for...

1) posting this so late! Pathetic excuse number one: I had so much homework! Pathetic excuse number two: I don't even have a second excuse...so I'm sorry! It won't ever take this long agani, especially since Christmas break is coming--YES!

2) the shortness. Pathetic excuse number one: I wrote a 1,500 word report this week, so technically, I wrote quite a bit this week (just not all fanfiction!)

3) any typos. I read over it once, but I really wanted to get this out tonight for you guys, and it's eleven o'clock, so the grammar police may be a little off.

Anyway, so the original plan was to have checked off each boy in Dawn's metaphorical list in each chapter, but I thought some people might be daunted by the length, so I'm testing this out and seeing if people respond to it better. Remember, if my chapters are shorter, I'll update faster! So tell me which one you prefer: speed or length, and your wish shall be my command.

Speaking of people responding, thanks so much for reviewing and alerting and favoriting me--that means SOSOSOSO much to me! Getting those emails saying I have a new review/alert/favorite is the very best part of my day. Not to creep anyone out but...I LOVE YOU ALL!

Okay, now that my little author's rant is over...pretty please with Pikachu on top...

REVIEW! Say what you want, yell at me for ruining characters, for raping canon, tell me I have no talent as a writer and that I may as well give up now, or tell me you love my story, or tell mewhy on earth they would name a country "Chad." (that's a legit country, btw!) C R I T I C I S E M E! Or just write a normal review, that works too!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Howdy! I need to apologize for a very stupid stupid stupid mistake (which was caught by the perceptive Virgo Writer--thanks!) that I made while I was writing this. Since I only made minor changes, and so you won't have to re-read the whole chapter, I'll just tell you my mistake: I said before in previous chapters that Dawn used to date Gary, but in this one I said Dawn's never been on a date before. .. **CLARIFICATION:** Dawn and Gary dated! Dawn has already had a boyfriend! This is important for my readers to know, which is why I bothered to upload a whole new chapter instead of just leaving it. Anyway, thanks for reading and enjoy chapter 4!

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-**

The sun was rising, stretching its early morning rays across the blue sky, causing its light to reflect off the shining hair of four young adults, warming up the two brunettes, the redhead, and the blunette. The teenagers had their hands high in the air, waving goodbye to a boy who was waving right back at them, with twice the enthusiasm as he walked further and further away from them. The boy had a Pikachu on his shoulder, who sent a thunderbolt into the sky as a final farewell salute. Neither party stopped waving until they were both completely out of each others' line of sight.

"Ughhh, my arm is so tired!" Brock groaned as he stretched out said arm.

"Tell me about it!" May laughed ruefully.

Zoey grumbled, "I doubt he even saw us waving back to him after he walked over that last hill."

"Aw, come on, guys," Dawn put in, "we probably won't see poor Ashy-boy for a long time! The least we could do was wave."

"Dawn's right," Brock said, sighing. "But that really doesn't do anything for the fact that I can't feel my fingers."

They all laughed at their own whiny complaints, and headed out to a field on the outskirts of Hearthome, where Zoey and Dawn could practice their coordinating. On the walk over, Brock came up behind Dawn, who was strolling along by herself, staring at the sky, completely oblivious to Zoey's and May's lively chatter. He tapped his unusually quiet friend on the shoulder and asked her,

"Still thinking about Ash, huh?"

"Coordinating, actually," came the quick reply.

Brock scoffed, "You really are a terrible liar." His face softened and he admitted, "It's because you're such an honest and good person, I guess."

"I'm not!" she blushed, but secretly, she was flattered deeply by the praise.

"Not a bad liar or not a good person?"

Dawn replied hesitantly, "Both, I think."

"Don't think like that, Dawn. You're perfectly sweet, even if Ash doesn't see it."

"I really am not a good person! And stop bringing up Ash!" she snapped.

Brock looked at her strangely. "Okay, really, what's bothering you?"

She didn't answer. She kept walking, not meeting the slanted eyes of her friend. They were almost to the field where Dawn loved to practice for contests. Brock knew exactly how to get Dawn to crack and spill her guts: you just had to keep quiet and not irritate her. She was a bit of a show-off, with her girly clothing and her easy grace on stage, so of course if you weren't hounding her all the time for her attention, she'd easily feel attention-starved and would try and do anything to win it back. He was right, naturally, because he was so good with Pokémon and people (except for certain Jennys and Joys...) He shook his head to focus, and noticed that Dawn's huffy walk had slowed and she sent him the occasional glance back.

"Fine, fine--I'll tell you! I wasn't thinking about Ash really, but boys in general..." she trailed off, probably to check his reaction.

Brock felt a little warm and nervous. "Uh, this isn't going to be about how hot guys are or anything like that, right? Cause I mean Zoey and May are right over there and if you need to gush about six-packs or whatever...I mean, I am the love doctor, but I'm still a man!"

Dawn giggled. "Brock, you can be so stupid!" She, ever the flirt, grabbed his hand and pulled him slightly closer. "I was thinking about a secret."

Brock rubbed his chin thoughtfully with the hand that Dawn hadn't captured. Dawn looked at him seriously before continuing, "If you want to hear my secret, you have to first tell me why you're acting so concerned about me."

"How is that fair? I mean, I did ask you first!"

"Fine, you win again," she grumbled. "But you gotta swear you won't say a word to a single soul about it."

"On my life and on my mother's life."

"That's not good enough."

Brock almost fainted. He just said he'd die for her secret and she wasn't satisfied?! What more did she want--did she need his signature on paper? Did she want him to swim to Kanto to get a piece of paper for him to sign? Did she want him to sign in his own blood?

"I want you to pinky-swear."

Brock almost fainted again. Girls and their pinky-swears...Brock could swear that he would never flirt with his Nurse Joy again, and Dawn would believe him as long as they shook pinkies on it. He linked his pinky with hers anyway, and repeated his oath. She smiled happily, then leaned in so close that their faces practically touched. Suddenly, she pulled away, and winked at him.

"We're here!" she turned to her two other friends and announced.

Brock hadn't even noticed that they stopped walking. He was too busy trying to control his hormones around this perpetually teasing flirt. He sighed exasperatedly, but didn't argue when the blue-eye girl pulled away from him and skipped into the field.

May gasped when she stumbled into the field after her friends. She was a sucker for romance and flowers and dreamy scenes like the one laid out before her. Dawn's practice field...well, that was too much of an ugly name to describe it. It was brightly lit by the midmorning sun that glowed above their heads. The grass was perfectly green, with rather tall stalks that swayed gently as the occasional soft breeze whistled through them. The clearing was surrounded and fenced in by evergreen trees that complimented the scent of the flowers. And the flowers! May _adored_ flowers. There were patches and patches of all kinds of blooms that cheerfully colored the green and brown landscape. Their sweet perfume was almost too much, but it was diluted by the smell of the river running through the edge of the field. The water gushed through, adding to the harmony of sounds coming from the forest. The occasional Bidoof peeked from behind bushes, or a Starley chirped from high up. The entire place practically sang with life and serenity.

"Oh!" May sighed. "Dawn, how in Sinnoh did you find this gorgeous place?"

Even Zoey had temporarily lost her cool exterior as she skipped from flower to flower, sniffing them and gathering a few in her arms. She looked up at the sound of May's voice, her eyes shining. "This place is amazing--my Pokémon have got to see this!" She released her entire team, who were happy to be out and about. Her Finneon landed gracefully in the stream. Soon enough, everyone else released his or her own teams.

Dawn explained as the other three trainers watched their partners frolic through the wonderland.

"Well, Ash and Brock and I camped at this place while we traveling all those years ago. When I moved to Hearthome, I found it again, but by accident, Mamoswine escaped his PokeBall and rampaged it, looking for Poffins," and at this, her Pokémon looked up from where he was drinking and snorted. Dawn giggled and continued, "Then all these Pokémon came out, like more Buneary and Pokémon like that and when they saw their home all torn up, I almost cried from guilt after looking at their tiny heartbroken faces! So I returned Mamoswine and ran to the nearest Pokémon center so I could call Ash and borrow his Torterra. He used to Frenzy Plant to replant all the grass, and he helped me roll aside all the dug up tree trunks. Then I called Drew, to borrow his Roselia, who helped me plant all the flowers. After I returned their Pokémon, Piplup sprinkled the whole place with water...and he did it each time we came back. And from there, it just grew like this, I guess. All the wild Pokémon were so delighted with what we did that they never got mad when we visited and practiced." Dawn finished.

Zoey and May sighed in unison, satisfied with the happy story.

Brock laughed, "Only someone as stylish as you could pull that off. I never knew you were so determined!"

"I always get what I want," Dawn said playfully.

Zoey rolled her eyes, "Please, try to control that ego of yours, Princess. Let's get down to training, already!"

"Says the girl who just picked a bouquet of flowers for her hair," May mumbled under her breath. Zoey, who was too busy gathering her Pokémon around her, didn't notice, but Dawn turned and winked.

"All right, Buneary, spotlight!"

The little Pokémon stepped in front of her master. Brock settled next to May, and both prepared to be awed.

"Ice beam, aimed at sky, then jump and use Dizzy Punch!"

She did as Dawn bid, timing it so that when gravity started working on the ice shards that were created with her Ice Beam, she jumped into the air and gracefully destroyed the shards, leaving her to land among the sparkles.

May applauded, and Zoey nodded stiffly, acknowledging that it was a very impressive appeal.

Then she stepped to the center of the meadow, taking Dawn's place. "Okay, Leafeon, it's up to us!"

"I remember that Leafeon!" Dawn cried. "It helped defeat Cyndaquil and Mamoswine!"

"You bet," Zoey winked, "and watch it beat you again!"

Directing her attention to her Eeveelution, she commanded, "Energy Ball, then Magical Leaf!"

The Verdant Pokémon complied. She shot the shining ball of light straight into the air, then quickly sent the leaves after it, so that they circled the glowing light as it floated in midair.

"Finish it up with one last Energy Ball!"

Zoey's Leafeon did as she was told, and the second Energy Ball was even stronger than the last. It was so powerful it completely engulfed the ball of leaves and light, incinerating the leaves and adding to the light. The light dramatically faded, and all that was left of the Magical Leaf was a sparkly residue that gently floated to the ground and onto the graceful Leafeon's head.

"Wow," was Dawn's only remark as she stood there dumbfounded, while May and Brock whistled and cheered in the background.

Zoey grinned and took a bow. She praised her Leafeon and told her to go and play with the other Pokémon. Then Zoey ran over to her audience and asked them while grinning widely,

"What d'ya think?"

May squealed, "It was so pretty and graceful and elegant and you'll totally win your next contest!"

Brock nodded in agreement and added, "You and Dawn had similar appeals, but both were nicely and uniquely executed."

"Yours was better than mine," Dawn admitted. "You showed me I still have a long way to go before I really am ready for the Grand Festival."

Zoey glowed from the praise but insisted, "Don't put yourself down! Dawn, your appeal was really good, too."

"Yeah, okay, but wait and see--let's have a battle right now and see who can win!"

The girls spent the rest of the morning practicing their contest battling. Sometimes Zoey won, sometimes Dawn won. By the time the sun was at its peak in the sky, all their Pokémon were completely exhausted, and the girls were worn down with shouting commands. Sensing this, Brock pulled together a delicious lunch for everyone, including Pokémon. He called them all over,

"LUNCH'S READY!"

The ground shook as a stampede of girls and Pokémon rushed over to a grinning Brock. They grabbed a bit of the food on the giant platter he was holding, emptying it completely. Dawn pouted and whined,

"Where's our food?!"

Brock pulled out four other plates and handed them to the girls, leaving one for himself. They munched on the fried vegetable rolls and noodles for a while. Zoey let out an obnoxiously loud burp and leaned back and sighed,

"That was so delicious."

Brock blushed modestly. "Aw, shucks, it was nothing."

"Dawn, you'd be so lucky to have Brock as your man--he'd cook for you all the time," May murmured contentedly, obviously not thinking about what she was letting out of her mouth.

Brock turned to Dawn confused.

She chuckled weakly, but inside she wanted to slap May silly.

May jolted up from her sleepy position, as she finally realized what she just said.

"Oh crap, was that out loud?!"

Dawn groaned and Brock sat there expectantly waiting for some clarification.

"Oh well, you see, that's the secret I mentioned before...it's a funny little story..." Dawn tried to begin.

Brock raised his eyebrow.

"Fine, fine! It was a bet!"

"A bet." he echoed flatly.

She backed off a little at the look on his face. "Uhh, yeah... Zoey says that I have to find out which of my guy friends are in love with me."

"So all that drama with Ash the other day...was part of a bet?"

"Wellll," Dawn stretched out the word to give her time to wrack her brains for an excuse. Zoey and May shot each other nervous look, worried that Brock would blow up.

"Well, what, Dawn?" Brock cut her off. "Is this a game to you? A sick little game where you play with boys' hearts?"

"N-no!" Dawn gasped.

"'Cause trust me, my heart's been played before. All those Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys. And you know what Dawn? It's not fun. And it's not a game."

He stood up, brushing off his pants, packing up his bag, and recalling his Pokémon. Dawn grabbed his arm, and begged,

"Brock, please, don't go off on me all angry. I wouldn't do it like that! I'm tired of being alone, and I want a boyfriend. And we just figured this would be the way to do it!"

May added, "So I take it you don't love her?"

Zoey punched her in the gut in an attempt to get her to stop.

May realized what she'd done but was--once again--too late to take back what she had said. She looked to the ground, mortified, and whispered, "Oops."

Brock shook his head disbelievingly. "Dawn, I love you like a little sister, which is why I'm telling you this--as long as you keep acting like a spoiled child, no man will ever love you."

He strapped his bag onto his back and walked from the girls. They didn't try to stop him. They knew it wouldn't work.

When he was finally out of sight, May turned to her blue-haired friend and looked at her beseechingly before saying,

"You know I didn't mean to screw everything up. I'm so sorry!" May teared up a little, and Dawn couldn't resist.

"No need to worry--you're forgiven. Besides, I told you I wouldn't make a big deal out of this, right? I'm over it." She smiled.

Zoey sighed. "That sucked. I hate having friends mad at me."

"I think he'll get over it. Brock's too kind-hearted to hold a grudge."

"Still. I really don't feel like practicing anymore."

May brightened marginally. "We should go get ice cream!"

Zoey and Dawn looked at her like her brains were spilling out through her ears.

"Ice cream always makes everyone feel better," May argued defensively.

Her two friends laughed and consented. They gathered their Pokémon and cleaned up their mess from lunch before heading back to the city.

**-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-*-**

I licked the ice cream that was dripping off the edge of my chocolate cone. Yum!

"Dawn, if you're serious about continuing this bet, I think you should get everyone over with as soon as possible," Zoey told me before taking another sip from her strawberry-banana smoothie.

"Mphmphmmm," May swallowed the remains of her sundae. "I mean, I agree."

"Okay, I'll do it right now!" I said brightly, and before anyone could protest, I pulled out my Poketch and dialed Barry's number.

"Wow, I didn't expect it to be that fast!" Zoey said.

I grinned and explained, "I already have it figured out: first Barry, then Lucas, Drew, Paul, and Gary!"

May choked on her water but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by a familiarly impatient voice.

"Dawn! Hiya! How ya doing! What did you call for?! Did you just say my name?! Why aren't you answering any of my questions?!"

I laughed and waved at the Barry that appeared on the screen of her Poketch. "Hi, Barry! I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out tonight?"

"Wait, where?" He asked.

"In Hearthome, of course!"

"Well, I'm in Twinleaf right now, but I bet I could make it there by 7! So I'll see ya then. I gotta get going! Don't want you to fine me for being late!" Barry cried before hanging up.

"Ugh. How can you stand that blabbering?" Zoey groaned, pretending to bang her head on the table.

May giggled but I ignored them both. "I think it's kinda cute," I humphed, and took a dignified lick from the top of my cone.

"Let's go pick out your outfit!" May cried, and she jumped up from her seat in the ice cream parlor's bar and grabbed both of our arms. She towed us toward the exit as her captives (aka me and Zo) struggled to break free and finish our ice cream at the same time.

May sighed in delight when she opened the door to my walk-in closet.

"I will never stop being jealous of this," she said as she dreamily twirled around, running her hand over the racks and racks of clothing. She looked at each piece critically.

"So, what are you gonna be doing with Barry?"

"Not what you think we'll be doing," I snorted.

"You perv!" May cried. "I just meant were you will be going."

I thought about it. "Well, knowing Barry, he'll want to do something...energetic. So I was thinking maybe we could go to the arcade and waste time on the bumper cars," I concluded, smiling happily at my plan.

Zoey got up from her lazy, sprawled position on my couch and started helping May rifle through my many, many outfits.

"Geez, Dawn, you're such a girl. How many dresses do you need?!" she said distastefully.

May snapped her fingers impatiently, trying to get us to focus. "It doesn't matter 'cause she's not going to be wearing a dress to an arcade. I was thinking: jeans, tight shirt, cute hoodie."

She tossed me a pair of skinny jeans that I didn't recognize, and found a bright solid pink cami that I also didn't recognize. To top off her grand masterpiece, she picked out a yellow hoodie that was patterned with hearts.

"When did I get this?" I mused. "I guess I really do shop too much."

"No such thing!" May gasped, appalled.

Zo groaned again, "You guys are going to drive me crazy with all this talk about clothes."

"Hey!" I protested. "You know you like it just as much as we do."

Zoey grinned guiltily. "Maybe. In small, tiny, _miniscule_ doses."

"Enough about Zoey's closet girly-ness!!" May snapped. "There's a date that you need prepping for!"

She shoved me in a chair and pulled out a brush, a straightener, and some nail polish with a rather frighteningly dangerous look in her eyes. I turned to Zoey and remarked,

"Well, it's not every day you get to see May stand up and take charge."

Zoey fell to the ground laughing while May got her revenge on me by yanking the brush through my knotted hair.

To be honest, I was a little afraid to see how I'd turn out with May working on me.

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-**

Zoey sighed impatiently. It was almost seven, and Dawn was still getting dressed with May. Yes, Zoey did have fun shopping with her two girly friends, and yes, sometimes she enjoyed getting dressed up for big dates with her boyfriend, Kenny. But the entire afternoon--wasted on doing hair and nails? That was just ridiculous.

_Okay, Dawn, _she thought. _Enough's enough_.

She marched over to her two friends and shook them both, lecturing, "You two are out of control! You've spent thirty minutes debating over which shade of _pink_ better matched the freaking _yellow_ hoodie. You've spent an hour straightening her naturally straight hair, and you're still not dressed even though Barry should he here in any minute. Dawn, I am putting my foot _down_! You are going to be completely dressed and ready in ten minutes, _whether you like it or not_!"

Her voice rose in volume during her dramatic speech, until she was near shouting by the end. May and Dawn were stunned speechless. Suddenly, Dawn was brought back to life when her eyes saw the clock: only fifteen minutes to seven!

"Ohmigoshohmigosh!" she cried. "How am I going to finish in just fifteen minutes?!"

Zoey slapped her forehead exasperatedly. "You're almost done, for Mesprit's sake! Just put on your clothes!"

"Oh," Dawn said sheepishly. "Right."

May tossed her the outfit that Zoey had neatly ironed while they were wasting their time over pointless minute details. And what do you know? She finished in ten minutes, just like Zoey asked, with five minutes to spare so she could collect herself and calm her nerves.

"How nervous are you Dawn?" May asked as she fussed and fluttered around Dawn, straightening her outfit here and there, tugging on a few loose threads, running a brush through her blue locks one last time.

Dawn replied, "Well, technically speaking, this is just a hangout, not an actual date. Once I realized that, I guess I just got over my nerves."

"That's good," Zoey nodded in approval as she tossed random bits of trash from the makeover into a waste bin. "Don't let a guy have so much power of you. Be in charge!"

Dawn giggled and was about to say something back when they were startled by the sound of someone pounding on the door and calling,

"Dawn! Dawn! Dawn!"

She scurried to answer her apartment door. She threw the door wide open and greeted her impatient blonde friend with a wide hug.

"I can't believe you got here so fast!" she squealed. "How'd you do it?"

"Well, I flew over on my Staraptor, so I got here at around four in the afternoon. Since I had so much time, I just ran around and around Amity Square and now I'm energized. I'm so pumped, MAN, I AM PUMPED!!" Barry exclaimed.

Zoey and May rolled their eyes at the blunette and mouthed, _Have fun with the hyper kid,_ before turning away and trying to fight back their laughter.

Dawn stuck her tongue out at her friends, and somehow, the whole exchange went by unnoticed by Barry. She waved goodbye to them and quickly dragged Barry out the apartment before her friends could grab at the chance to say something else rude.

As they left the building, she told Barry her plans, to which he gladly agreed.

"I knew about Veilstone's Game Corner, I didn't know there was an arcade in Hearthome!" he cried as they entered.

"You find a lot of things that you never even noticed before once you move into a city. And here are the bumper cars!"

Barry shouted with excitement and hurried into line, pulling a blushing Dawn with him. Dawn hastily apologized to all the people he had shoved into as well as she could.

"How do you do it Barry?" Dawn asked once they were settled in line. "How the heck do you get all your energy?"

"Well, I just need to get around, you know? I need to be the best, the strongest, the toughest, the fastest, so I can be better than my father, Palmer!"

"I guess that makes sense, but why do you have to compare yourself to him? Palmer makes a strong frontier brain, but I think you're a great gym leader and being a gym leader calls for more skill, if you ask me."

Barry lit up at the praise and said, "Thanks, Dawn! You're such a good friend!"

They had reached the front of the line and they slipped into their own cars.

"You better watch out, Dawn! I'm not gonna go easy in you!"

"Bring it on!" she called back, grinning devilishly.

The starting bell dinged, and soon everyone was zooming around the bumper car pen, trying to hit as many people as possible. Dawn was bumped so many times that she lost count. Barry, on the other hand, was flying around like a maniac, bumping into everyone he passed.

He was going so impossibly fast (after all, these were bumper cars and they had set speeds, but somehow Barry's seemed faster) that he didn't even notice that the big muscle-y guy who was playing bumper cars too. Dawn had no idea what the heck someone that old and scary-looking was doing at an arcade, but she wasn't about to step up to him and ask. She watched helplessly as her friend bumped into his car for the seventh time in a row. The big guy looked so pissed off he was practically steaming.

At the end of their turn, Barry jumped out of his car and ran over to Dawn to help her out of her own car, which Dawn thought to be very sweet and chivalrous. She tried to hurry him towards the exit and away from the Machamp lookalike, but for once, Barry wasn't in a hurry. He was too busy describing in detail his countless successful hits in the bumper car game.

"...and then when he turned around I zoomed into him again! And the look on his face was so priceless that I--"

"What were you saying about me, kid?" a deep voice growled from behind us.

"Nothing rude," Barry answered back calmly.

"Oh yeah?" the guy cracked his knuckles threateningly.

"Barry, let's just go," Dawn urged, nervously tugging on his hand. The last thing she needed was a fight in which she would not be able to help at all.

But Barry, standing firm, ignored me and answered back again to the old guy, "Yeah, do you got a problem with that?"

The Machamp lookalike was disturbed by the boy's calm. Punks like him always ran in fear at his mere glare. He grumbled as he walked away from the two teens, "Eh, it ain't worth beating up a little baby boy like you anyway."

Barry grinned at Dawn, whom he noticed was paler than usual. "That was a close one!"

"Ugh! He was so freaky. I can't believe you were so brave about standing up to him!" Dawn said as she looked up admiringly at him. His face, she noticed, was pretty cute. It had gotten more angular, and his messy blonde hair fell just above his amber eyes. _He was much better looking than Brock, and maybe even Ash,_ she thought to herself.

"Thanks! But it's just that I hate guys like him! So mean and rude and just overall jerks and bullies. I can't stand 'em!"

They walked over to the other arcade games. She paused in front of the PokePokeEvolution game, which was basically a mat and a screen where you had to step on the arrows on the mat that matched the ones on the screen. If you won, the Pokémon you were playing as evolved. It was a fun way to practice dance moves, and was one of Dawn's favorite games.

She realized something as they were digging up money to put into the machine's coin slot. "But wasn't Paul your idol when we were kids? I mean, Paul must have been the biggest jerk of all!"

"Yeah, but Paul has the reasonable excuse of having adorable purple hair and mysterious black eyes."

Dawn choked on her own spit. Noticing her skepticism, Barry asked,

"Don't tell me you disagree!"

Dawn blushed. She clearly recalled thinking Paul was attractively mysterious just a few days ago when they last spoke. In fact, she still had his jacket!

"Uhhh, it doesn't matter what I think!" she covered up quickly. "What matters is what you think! What is up with that? You find Paul...attractive?!"

"Of course! It's kind of impossible not to!"

"Do you find all other males attractive?"

"Ugh, no! Come on Dawn, I have some taste. Do you find all males attractive?"

"Well, no," Dawn admitted. "Does that mean...you're gay?!"

Barry lowered his eyes, fidgeting with the quarters in his hand. "No need to say it like it's the end of the world."

"Oh! I didn't mean it like that! I have no problem with...with gays!" Dawn fumbled. "It's just that...I didn't know you were one!"

Barry sighed. "I wanted to keep it a secret, because I do have a crush on Paul and he must never ever find out. But you were being so nice before...and I'm tired of hiding."

Dawn couldn't take it anymore. She fell to the ground and laughed and laughed and laughed. This was just her luck. _Well, I sure as hell can cross him off my list_, she thought as she cracked up over her own misfortune. Barry stood above her, confused, but patiently waited for her to recover herself.

"How was that funny? I just confessed myself to you, and you laugh?" he asked, a little hurt.

"No, Barry, I was laughing at myself. I thought you were straight, and I spent the whole afternoon trying to look pretty for you, and then the whole evening trying to get you to fall in love with me, and I find out it was for nothing. That was just me, laughing at my luck."

"Then I forgive you. No fines for Dawn! But," he grinned as he slipped their coins into the PPE machine, "It doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you in this game. I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Please," she scoffed as she stepped on the mat. "I'm the girl, and I'm the coordinator. I have this game in the bag!"

"But I'm the gay guy, and I have been practicing this in my room since I was six, because I wanted to be able to dance just like Fantina."

"Bring it on!" Dawn yelled as the game started.

**-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-*-**

"I still can't believe how badly I lost to you," I moaned as we slowly made their way back to my apartment. I know, right? Slow with Barry? It must be the end of the world!

"I warned you that I've been practicing since I was six," Barry smirked smugly.

"But if you wanted to dance like Fantina, then why'd you become a trainer instead of a coordinator?"

"I wanted to be tough like my dad," he admitted. "I thought that maybe if I could show him how tough I was, he'd accept me for who I am."

I hesitantly asked, "So does he accept you for who you are now?"

"Yeah," Barry smiled contently. "Turns out he knew anyway, but he was proud of me for battling tough even though I am gay. So the training wasn't really all that necessary, but I don't care anymore. I'm happy as leader of Oreburgh an I wouldn't change it even if I got the chance to."

"Wow, Barry," I said. "You really are brave. Standing up to that old guy, standing up for who you are. It all takes a lot of gut."

"Thanks, Dawn. You know, you really are a sweet girl," he smiled at me. "You're so understanding."

"I've been trying harder lately," I admitted, recalling Brock's words to me from this morning. I realized we reached my building and I reached up to Barry to hug him goodbye.

"Thanks for listening, Dawn, and I hope we can hang out soon," he said softly as he pulled away. He called out his Staraptor from the PokeBall and mounted the bird's back. I waved to them both as they flew away before heading up to my room. It had been quite an interesting evening, and I couldn't wait to tell my two best friends about it.

* * *

A/N: This is my favorite to write (so far!) What more could possibly go wrong in poor Dawn's screwy love life? You'll find out in two weeks! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Please review--criticism is greatly appreciated! Love you all, even if you hate the story3.


	5. Chapter 5

**-*-*-DAWN'S POV-*-*-**

I wasn't in a hurry as I made my way back up to my floor. Barry hadn't asked me to, but I decided I wouldn't tell anyone that he was...romantically inclined to those of the masculine gender. If he wanted people to know, he would've told them himself, I decided, and I can't let Paul find out anyway. The elevator dinged as it reached my floor, interrupting my thoughts. I unlocked my door to reveal my friends snoozing on the couch, and the television was playing a show on coordinating, featuring top coordinators such as Drew. I rolled my eyes and snorted when the TV Drew winked and blew a kiss to squealing fangirls. He may be one of the cutest guys I knew, but May was right: he was so full of himself. I tried to tiptoe quietly past them so they wouldn't be disturbed, but my Piplup squeaked when he saw me, waking up my friends and causing them to spaz. Piplup ran into my arms, and I pet his feathery head while asking my friends,

"What the baloney were you guys watching?"

They both turned to the TV and May laughed as Drew got hit in the face with some random challenger's water gun. Zoey explained,

"Uhhh, we were just waiting for them to feature us!"

I giggled, "Sure. I believe you! I'm sure it had nothing to do with the Grasshead's luscious locks and sparkling emerald orbs."

May blushed and protested, "But it really doesn't!"

I shrugged it off. It didn't really matter to me. May and Drew have been rivals since forever but she would never admit that she found him just as attractive as every other girl found him.

"How was the date?" Zoey asked as she snuggled deeper into the couch.

"Did Barry give you the chance to put in your own word? The chance to walk at a normal pace? The chance to breathe?"

I glared at her. "There's no need to make fun of him! He's got a high energy level and it's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Ooh, defensive! Does that mean something?" May waggled her eyebrows.

"Nope!" I smiled brightly. "He's in love with someone else!"

Zoey inquired confusedly, "Then why the heck are you smiling about it?"

"Let's just say that there's no way I could live up to the competition."

May tugged me into her lap and hugged me comfortingly. "Don't let that get to you! Who's this so-called competition? I bet you're fifty times prettier!"

I climbed off of her and slipped under one of the blankets before replying, "He actually didn't say. Um, he was really tight-lipped about it. But we might find out who someday!" I tried to fit some truth in so my lie would be more believable.

"Sucks," Zoey yawned. She was fighting to keep her eyes open--and losing.

"Sleepy already, Zo?" I teased. "It's only eight!"

"Practicing contest battles wears me out," she mumbled.

"Let her sleep," May insisted. She was always so compassionate, even about the smallest things. I smiled at her, half-annoyed, half-proud.

"Fine, but you have to help me pick outfits. I think I'm going to call Lucas tomorrow, because he's all the way Twinleaf and I really just want to find out who's in love with me already. I mean, I already like all the guys on the list, but so far, three of them haven't returned the feeling," I sighed.

May and I got up and tiptoed to my closet and she consoled, "Well, Lucas could be the one!"

"Maybe," I said, unconvinced, and held up a frilly pink top for her to critique.

"Too little-kid-ish," she shook her head. "Be positive, Dawn! What happened to my 'no need to worry!' girl?"

"That girl got hit by a bus, then her body flew up into the sky, got sliced up by a plane wing, and as she tumbled down to the ground, got eaten by an Gyrados."

May pulled out a blue v-neck and held it up next to my face, scrutinizing it. "This goes really well with your eyes."

As I tried it on, May continued lecturing me. "Don't worry about it, Dawn! There's seven guys. One is bound to like you!"

"You guys keep telling me that! And nothing's happening!!" I whined. I examined my reflection and noticed that May was right. It did perfectly complement my hair and eyes, so I decided to keep it on for a while. I liked how pretty it made me feel.

May hugged me and reassured me, "One of them will, or I'll kick their butt."

"You? Fight?" I snorted.

"Well, my Blaziken would do it for you," she said cheerfully. "So I think you should just go with that top and that black skirt of yours when you call Lucas. After all, he'll only see the top of you. Good thing that's a v-neck!" she teased.

I blushed, "Shut up, you sicko. Now what should I wear for talking to Drew?"

"Drew? Good luck with that!" she scoffed. "He's so full of himself."

"That's why I need something especially cute!" I pointed out. I pulled out one of my shorter dresses. It was black, strapless and it cut off above my knees. "I'm sure he knows tons of pretty girls, so when we talk, I wanna look special. Drew won't be able to resist me now." I winked at my friend laughingly.

A weird look crossed May's face. "You're gonna wear that?"

"What's wrong with it? Isn't it so cute? I got it on sale!" I cried out gleefully.

"Well, sure if you wanna look like you're selling yourself," May muttered so quietly that I almost didn't catch the last part.

I did not just that. No way. "Huh? What did you say?"

May glared at me. "It makes you look like a total slut, okay?"

"Whoa, whoa! You were encouraging me to wear low-cut shirts, like, five minutes ago. Where are you going with this?" I asked incredulously.

"I just told you! As a friend, I cannot let you go out looking like such a slut!"

"Enough with the slut comments!" I snapped. "What's with you?! You're acting so mean and un-May-like."

"It's nothing. Just don't dress like a whore."

I could not believe her. I lost it. "Stop calling me names!"

"Then stop acting like you deserve them!" she shrieked.

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-**

Zoey groaned as she was jerked awake for the second time that night. _What the hell_, she grumbled to herself as she pulled herself up into a sitting position. She heard May's usually quiet voice shrieking and followed the noise, dragging her slippered feet along.

"Why the heck is everyone yelling?" Zoey asked the two girls.

They paid no attention. May was pacing back and forth, waving her hands in the air and shouting accusations at the blue-haired girl who just stood there silently and took it.

"May, May, May," Zoey said soothingly as she patted her friend's back.

"Why don't you tell me what's going on?"

"Dawn is planning on prancing around town half-naked, that's what!" May yelled.

Zoey shot Dawn a questioning look and Dawn said defensively,

"Look, Zo, all I did was ask her about this dress and she flipped out on me." She held up the skimpy black dress in question.

"Well, that is a bit...short," Zoey pointed out. "But it doesn't sound like you to talk like that, May."

"Yeah, May," Dawn echoed. "You're acting really rude and it's really starting to hurting my feelings." Her blue eyes weren't sparkling for once. They were dimmer and starting to fill up with tears.

"Your feelings?" her voice rose about an octave as she repeated, "I'm hurting YOUR feelings?"

Zoey stopped patting May's back and stepped in between her and Dawn. She stared at her angry friend and said stonily,

"Okay. You're going to tell me exactly what is going on with you, and why you're taking it out on one of your best friends."

"You, of all people, wouldn't understand," May spat bitterly.

Zoey looked her squarely in the face. "Try me."

May sat down on the floor and pulled her knees to her chest. A few tears leaked out of her eyes. She choked out, "You couldn't get it, because you couldn't p-p-possibly understand how I'm f-feeling. How much I'm _hurting_," May sobbed. She cried and cried, and there was nothing her friends could do but sit there with her, shocked and confused.

"I'm s-sorry." May let out one last shuddering breath. "I'll finish explaining. You can't get it, because you two are special. Zoey, you have a boyfriend whom you love, and Dawn, you have so many fans. Everyone thinks you two are special. And beautiful. And talented."

"Is that what's going on, May?" Dawn asked gently. "You don't think you're good enough? Because that's definitely not true."

"It's not just that I'm not good enough. It's that I'm not good enough for him!"

"Who?" Zoey asked, more confused than ever.

May practically had to force his name out. "Drew."

"What?" Dawn gasped. "You've liked Drew all this time, and you've never said anything?"

"What was I supposed to tell you? That I've had a crush on him since I was ten? That I hid that from him for three years and watched him flirt with other girls? That I hid it so I could become pretty and a good enough coordinator to deserve him? And that when I finally work up the guts to tell him I l-l-love him, he rejected me?" May looked up at Dawn angrily. "Are you happy now that you know?"

"May! Don't be mad at me anymore! I understand now. In fact--"

May cut off her friend. "Don't. Don't you ever tell me that you understand, because you don't!" May got up from her position so she was standing above Dawn as she shouted, "You don't understand! You prance around in your short little skirts! With your perfect blue hair! You bat your eyelashes at any guy and he'll fall for you. You don't understand me at all, so quit pretending like you do!"

Dawn flinched underneath May's frighteningly angry glare, but defended herself. "Are you crazy?! Did you not just see me get rejected by three guys in a row?!"

"Please! You didn't even want them. Brock was right--this was all a game for you and you don't care who gets hurt in the process. You've never loved anyone so much that it hurt to be rejected by them. In fact, you've never loved anyone but yourself!"

Dawn got up to face May, and a dangerous look flashed in both pairs of eyes. May's eyes were colder and harder than frozen sapphires, and Dawn's eyes were stormier than a hurricane.

"That's it!" Dawn shrieked. "You're done insulting me and criticizing me in my own house. Get out, get out, _get out_!" She shoved May toward the door.

Zoey, who had been shocked speechless by her friends' incredibly out of character behavior and harsh words, was brought back to her sense by the physical contact. She grabbed Dawn's arm, temporarily stopping her from slamming the door in May's face, and begged,

"Please, be reasonable--May has nowhere to go and you're sending her out into the night! Please, let's just get to bed and we can work this out in the morning!"

"No, Zoey, I don't want to stay here anyway. Her sluttiness might rub off on me," May sneered coolly.

Dawn's eyes teared up. She sniffled, "Fine. You two stay here and have fun talking about me behing my back. But I--I just can't be here right now. I'm leaving." She grabbed her PokeBalls, her jacket, and her old yellow backpack from her traveling days and rushed out the door so May wouldn't see the tears falling out of her eyes.

Zoey called after her friend, "Dawn, no--"

But she was interrupted by the slam of the front door.

**-*-*-DAWN'S POV-*-*-**

What do you have left to do when your best friends turn on you? I don't know. I had no idea what to do, so I ran. And as a plan formed in my head, I didn't stop running. I kept at it, running long and hard through the night and darkness with no one at my side but my Pokemon, who had released themselves to comfort and protect me. I ran so much that I actually reached my far-off destination at the same time the sun started to color the sky pink. I collapsed and didn't get up.

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-**

"My boy! Don't forget your lunch!" an old man called concernedly after the boy.

"Aw, Gramps, I wasn't gonna forget. You don't have to treat me like I'm five," he grumbled back at her.

The man sighed affectionately and ruffled his beloved boy's hair as he attempted a scolding tone, "You know, Lucas, you are the smartest kid I know, but I feel like you are awful forgetful sometimes."

"Just because I _occasionally_ forget to bring my lunch out to the field for research?" Lucas asked his grandfather incredulously.

"You have to nourish your mind as well as your body."

Lucas sighed then smiled. "Okay, Grandpa. Whatever you say." He grabbed the paper brown bag and stuffed it into his backpack before dashing out the door.

"Oof!" he said as he tumbled to the ground, tripping over some lumpy, dirty object that was crumpled on his doorstep. "What the..." He muttered as he crouched above the lump. Was this some injured Pokemon?

Upon closer inspection, Lucas was even more confunded. He couldn't think of a Pokemon that had blue fur like the one before him. He poked it and jumped back as it moaned. He gasped when it blinked up at him and murmured,

"No, you know I don't like milk with my waffles," she said sleepily.

"Dawn?!"

"Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie! You're not my mom!"

Lucas couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, yeah, thank Arceus for that."

"Gosh," Dawn said blearily. "What time is it?"

"Um, about seven in the morning? What are you doing here so early, and why do you look...well, to be honest, you look like crap," Lucas told her frankly.

Dawn sighed, accepting the hand that Lucas offered to pull her up. "I meant to go to my mom just to talk. Sorry for appearing her uninvited." She smiled at him, but he couldn't help but notice that it wasn't the same overly-bubbly-so-bright-it-burns smile that he was used to seeing from Dawn.

"Rough night, huh?"

"That just about sums it up," she said, avoiding his eyes as she dusted off her jeans. "Could I...would you mind it if I cleaned up some here? I think my mom would pretty much freak if she saw me like this."

"Yeah, yeah of course!" He replied as he ushered her inside. "My home is yours." He sneaked her upstairs, to avoid any impending questions from his grandfather, or his brunette little sister.

"Uh, I decided I smelled a little off. I'm gonna go shower before I visit Professor Rowan!" He called out a random excuse to his grandfather.

He waited outside of the bathroom in his own room as Dawn took a shower. He powered up his computer, searching through the news to try and find out if there were any herds of rare Pokemon being spotted today. He was so absorbed in his research that he didn't even notice when Dawn came out of the bathroom, thirty minutes later.

"You've always been such a dork," she teased, running a finger through her perfectly blow-dried hair.

"And you've always been a little too obsessed with your looks," he shot back. But he couldn't help but stare a little. She was wearing the same jeans she had on before, but the shirt was so tight that it probably fit her when she was ten or something. Dawn noticed his staring and blushed a little, saying,

"Oh, yeah, can I borrow a shirt to wear over this or something? This was all I had in the bag that I grabbed before..." she didn't finish her sentence.

To avoid anymore awkwardness, he jumped up from his desk chair and opened his closet, picking out one of his casual button-downs and tossed it to her. She buttoned it partially and rolled up the sleeves.

"Only you would manage to look cute in something like that," he commented.

"Uh, thanks." She blushed. "So what were you doing on your PC before I came in?"

"Well there's a stampede of Skitty right outside Sandgem, apparently. I thought I could go and check it out." He paused before rushing to finish, "Do you have to go to your mom's now? Can you spend a little time with me first? We'll be out in the field playing with some Pokemon, if that's cool with you."

She smiled a genuinely happy smile at him before accepting his invitation. They left his house after managing to avoid the prying eyes of Lucas' family and walked toward some fields together.

**-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-*-**

Lucas was talking me to cheerfully, just like he always used to. It was comforting being back home. Hearthome was a great city, but the quiet and peace of small-town Sandgema and Twinleaf was something Hearthome could never achieve. I frowned as I remembered my apartment--and who was still in it. How could May be so mean? She'd always been sweet, and cute, and angelic. Drew must have hurt her bad. Real bad.

"Uh, Dawn? You've been making weird faces for the past three minutes. It's kinda creepy."

"Oh, sorry, Luke!"

"I get it. You've had a rough time. No need to worry, right?"

I gave him my warmest smile, because he was the only other person in the world who shared my catchphrase. I loved how comfortable I felt around him. "You know, everyone always gets annoyed when I say that. Or they get even more worried. Sometimes you're the only person in the world who understands me--it's like we're twins or something!"

"Ha, remember when everyone used to think that? Your mom would get so mad, but we didn't mind."

"Oh, the old days. Those were good times: just you, me, Barry, Leona, Kenny, and the swingset."

Lucas laughed, probably recalling the same memory that I was thinking about right now.

**----flashback to when they were eight----**

"Oh no! This swingset has only two swings!" Leona cried as we finally entered the park nearby our houses.

"No need to worry!" Lucas and Dawn cheered.

"It's creepy when you guys do that," Kenny muttered.

Dawn ignored him and began telling her plan. "Two people could get on the swings--"

"--then two people could push," Lucas continued.

"And then one person could watch to make sure we don't fall!" Dawn finished excitedly.

Kenny scrambled to climb the swingset, but Lucas grabbed his shirt. "Ladies first," He admonished, as Kenny scrambled to escape his friend's grip. Lucas held the swing open for Dawn, and Leona climbed into the other.

"Fine, fine. But you have to push Deedee!" He cackled and rushed to get behind Leona's swing.

"Ready, Dawn?" Lucas asked softly from behind her.

"Ready-spaghetti!" and she felt just like a Starly as Lucas pushed her higher and higher into the sky.

"Whoa, whoa!" Barry, the spotter, shouted. "Any higher and Dawn might reach the moon! Then I'll have to fine you, Lucas!"

Leona pouted and yelled, "Higher! I wanna reach the moon! Mush, mush! Bad Kenny!"

Dawn giggled, but just as she was about to ask Lucas to push her swing hader, she slipped out of her seat. She sreamed, and fell to the ground with a scarily loud thump.

Barry, of course was the first one to reach her. He had seen her falling, but was too scared to react and too slow to save her. But he was still the fastest, and he helped Dawn into a sitting position. The victim sniffled, and pointed to her knees, which had been scraped up. Lucas raced over, tears in his eyes.

"Oh, Dawn, I'm so sorry!" He apologized. "I should've been more careful! It's all my fault."

"No need to worry, Luke," Dawn replied as she tried to put on her brave face.

"Isn't there anything we can do to fix her booboos?" Leona fretted. "Lucas, you're smart! Help!"

"Oh, right, of course!" He said, snapping to attention. "Uhhh, get me my backpack."

He pulled a first aid kit out form it, and swiped Dawn's shallow scrapes with alcohol wipes. Dawn winced, tears pooling up in her eyes from the sting. Lucas noticed and apologized again,

"Sorry, but we gotta do this to make sure all the bad stuff doesn't get into you."

"What kind of bad stuff?" Barry asked wonderingly.

"I don't know, germs, and other icky things," he said as he gently placed a bandaid over each cut.

Dawn looked at him with adoring eyes. "You fixed me up! You saved me! Now no icky stuff is going to get me. But Momma always kisses my booboos to make it all better. All good doctors do," she informed him.

Lucas blushed, but did as she asked and gave a quick kiss to each knee. Dawn hugged him thankfully, and Barry forced himself into the hug.

"GROUP HUG!!!" He shouted, tugging both Kenny and Leona into the hug. They broke apart after a minute of giggling and bouncing around and headed towards the slide to enjoy the simple pleasures of an eight-year-old's life.

**----flashback ends----**

I laughed lightly as I remembered. Oh, the innocence of the entire thing.

"I'm guessing you're thinking about the same day I was?" Lucas asked, blushing just like he did all those years ago.

"Yeah. We were so cute back then!"

Lucas nodded, but didn't respond because we reached the part of Route 201 where all the Pokemon were. He motioned for me to be silent.

Short walk, I thought, but I kept quiet like Lucas requested. Lucas crouched down, ducking behind a bush, and I followed his lead. He tossed a couple berries out into the open. They were berries I had never seen before; one looked like a chain of three blue berries strung together, and the other was like a green ball with little yellow lumps all over it, like it was diseased or something. Not very appetizing. He explained in a whisper to me,

"That was a Kelpsy berry and a Hondew berry. They make Pokemon more friendly and lowers their need to attack."

I was surprised. Lucas had always been the one out of our little group of friends who would prefer to sit under a shady tree and read rather than run around, but I never really realized how much he knew. I was impressed but I couldn't say anything, again, because a swarm of Skitty had suddenly appeared, cautiously surrounding the Kelpsy berry and sniffing at it. The biggest Skitty leaped atop it, munching on a chunk that it had just ripped off. The big one allowed the smaller ones to indulge in a bite.

I felt my eyes tear up at the sight of the Kitten Pokemon. May had a Skitty. If I started thinking about May, I would start crying, and then Lucas would freak out, and then I would have to explain to him the whole situation, and it would just end up being a big mess. Lucas turned to me, smiling excitedly, and said,

"They should be good now! We can come closer and study them, maybe even play for a while. You'd like that, right, Dawn?" He must've noticed how traitorously water-y my eyes were becoming because he continued, "Oh...well, I mean, if you don't like Skitty or if you're scared or something, you totally don't have to."

I chuckled weakly in spite of myself and reassured him, "No, no, I'll be fine in a sec."

Lucas took my hand in his own warm one, and pulled me gently towards the swarm while telling me,

"I've never seen any up close before, but I've read that Skitty are usually really friendly and cute and they'll make you feel happy again in no time."

Why was Lucas being so nice to me? Yes, we have been friends ever since we were babies, but over the past couple of years I hadn't seen much of him. I mostly saw him when I came home for the holidays, or if I won a big contest or something, or on special occasions like the Twinleaf festival, which was only about a few times a year total. Especially when he found out about Gary being my boyfriend when we were thirteen, Lucas and I talked less and less. Lucas and Gary were rivals, like Paul and Ash were. They were both well on their way to being number one Pokemon researchers, Gary in Kanto, and Lucas in Sinnoh. I don't think he was very happy with my choice of boyfriend. But I was glad that Lucas was still the same compassionate guy he'd always been. Whatever his reasons, I was glad he'd still chosen to be my friend.

I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I didn't even notice Lucas bending next to a Skitty, petting its head. As the Skitty arch its back and rubbed its head against his leg, he pulled out his Pokedex and added its information into it. Then he pulled out a camera and snapped a few pictures. He sat back on the grass and pulled out a notebook, jotting down several lines as the Skitty continued to beg for attention. He repeated the process on several other Skitty before turning to me, grinning widely, and called out my name, inviting me to play.

I smiled back. Yeah, thinking 'bout May and Gary depressed me, but seeing Lucas being tackled to the ground by tiny pink Pokemon was so hilarious. I should be taking a video for blackmail.

"Argh!" Lucas yelled. "Crazy Pokemon! Attack her! Get the girl! She's the pink-lover, not me!"

Like magic, at least half of the family of Skitty prances towards me, giving my legs a couple if friendly sniffs. Lucas was like the god of the Skitties or something. They purred, and they practically begged to be picked up.

"Awww, who's the cutest Pokemon in the forest? You are, yes, you are!" I cooed as I gathered several little baby Skitty into my arms. They squirmed in my arms, some reaching up to lick my nose, other fighting to claim the perch on my beanie. Lucas came to my rescue, pulling several pairs of sharp claws away from me.

"This should be made into a horror movie. _Attack of the Skitty_," he joked.

I added, "Every boy's worst nightmare."

We sat on the grass for a long time. I talked to him about the contests he didn't get to watch. Turns out he's seen a lot of them on TV.

"Wow, I sound creepy," he said sheepishly. "But you know what it's like here. Not much to do in little old Sandgem."

I told him about the crazy people I've met, about how awesome it felt to win, and how bad it hurt to lose. He was really good at listening. But Lucas was most interested in hearing about our combinations, and the training. Typical boy.

"Well, coming up with different and beautiful combinations gets kind of tough. I get inspiration from everywhere: watching other coordinators and trainers, or even from watching my Pokemon. It comes from my creativity." I described the process to him, and he listened raptly. "But the training's all them. They're so determined!"

"Yes, yes," he mumbled, mostly to himself. "I wonder...why do some Pokemon prefer coordinating, while other like battling better? It's like they have humanoid own personalities. What other similarities are there between humans and Pokemon?"

"You sound like Professor Rowan," I teased.

He grinned. "Why, thank you."

It was lunchtime by now, so Lucas pulled out his peanut butter sandwhich and split it with me. We chowed down for a couple of quiet minutes before he hesitantly asked me,

"I was just wondering why you reacted to the Skitty like that before." He watched my face carefully before going on, "Because listening to you talk...I can tell you really do love Pokemon, so you couldn't be scared. I just couldn't figure it out. It's been bothering me, not knowing."

I smiled, but even I could sense the emptiness coming from it. "You always liked figuring things out, Luke. Well, I don't think even you could've guessed this one."

He looked me straight in the eye. "You can trust me," he spoke softly.

"I had a fight with my friends, Zoey and May."

"May? That explains the Skitty."

"Yeah. And it also explains why I'm here. I just needed to talk to my mom."

Lucas smacked himself on the face. "Aw, crap, I'm sorry, Dawn. I've been holding you hostage."

"No, it's cool. I like talking to you," I insisted. "In a way it's better than talking to my mom. Do you feel better now that you know?"

"Yes. Everything makes sense now. Knowing things makes me feel good."

"You think too much," I complained. "Everything's like a puzzle to you. You always have to make things seem logical and reasonable."

"Not all things," he breathed. That was when I was struck by how close he was. I could hear him breathing. I wondered if he could hear how fast my heart was beating.

I blushed. Don't know why, but something in the way he said that, and having him so close to me, was making me blush. "What do you mean?"

Then Lucas kissed me. I forgot why I was in Sandgem, I forgot all about May, and the bet, and anything else. All I could think about was how soft his lips were. As he pulled away, he smiled gently and told me,

"How I feel about you isn't logical. If I were smart about this, I would've just stopped liking you. It isn't logical to be attached to one person for so long. Love isn't logical."

All I could do was stare at him. Was this really Lucas? Shy, smart, sweet, Lucas? I couldn't believe it was the same guy. But I didn't care, because for the first time in a while, I felt happy.

I leaned in for another kiss.

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-**

The happy couple eventually made their way back to Sandgem, hand in hand. Lucas was beyond thrilled at his success. Everything he'd dreamt about these past years had finally come true, and he couldn't believe it. Dawn, in her own way, was equally happy. She didn't have to embarrass herself about the bet anymore, and her new boyfriend was every bit as smart and cute as Gary.

Lucas had to stop by Rowan's lab first, to drop off his notes from the day's research.

"Hello? Professor? Anybody here?" he called out.

"Coming, coming," a distracted voice answered. "Oh, Lucas, it's you."

"Hi, Dad," he said, a little coolly. Lucas admired his dad for being such a good Pokemone researcher, but he felt that his father spent a little too much time at the lab, and not nearly enough at home with his grandfather and little sister. "Just got my notes on today's swarm. Skitty, this time."

"Oho! That's a new one. Good work." Lucas' dad shuffled off without a backward glance, too absorbed in reading the notes and typing rapidly in his handheld computer.

Lucas sighed and turned his back on his father, wrapping an arm around the girl next to him. "Come on, Dawn, let's get you home."

"You know, you don't have to walk me home. I've been through Route 201 thousands of times, and all I've ever seen are harmless Bidoof and Starly," she informed him. "I'm perfectly safe."

"What if I want to spend more time with you?" Lucas asked, grinning suggestively.

Dawn laughed, and rummaged around her backpack for the spare keys her mom let her have. It was such a short walk that they had already reached the front door of her house. Lucas stood patiently next to her, but frowned when he heard something. Weird noises were coming form within Dawn's house. He was about to stop her from entering, but the energetic girl bounded inside, yelling out,

"Mom, I'm home! I'm actually home!"

Lucas rushed inside, to make sure she was safe. Dawn was fine, except for the little frown on her face.

"That's weird," she muttered. "Mom's always in the kitchen, baking cookies or something." She looked up, hearing hushed whispers and thumping noises coming from upstairs. "Oh, Mesprit, I think something's wrong! My mom might be in trouble!"

She raced upstairs, with Lucas right at her heels. She threw the door to her mother's bedroom wide open, and was relieved beyond measure to find her mother safely intact and healthy, if not somewhat disheveled. Johanna's hair and clothes were slightly rumpled, and she looked tired, but was otherwise fine. Dawn leapt into her mother's arms and babbled,

"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright! I thought was something was wrong when I didn't see you downstairs. I missed you, Mom! How have you been?"

Johanna seemed surprised and slightly disoriented to see her daughter show up at the front door out of nowhere, but she embraced her tightly and replied,

"Of course, I'm abslutely fine. I-I just didn't know you were coming. I would've baked cookies." She looked at her daughter reproachfully. "Now, Dawn, honey, I think I'll need a little warning if you're gonna pop in like this. As you can clearly see, I'm not exactly dressed for company."

Dawn pouted. "I'm not company--I'm family!"

"Ah, but Lucas isn't used to seeing me in my pajamas, I'm sure," Johanna said, smiling at Lucas warmly. "I haven't seen you in so long, Lucas, dear. And I do miss you terribly." She beckoned for the young man to give her a welcoming hug, and he readily complied. She held on to him for a moment, before he gently extracted himself from her grip.

"So you tell me, Dawn, how have you been?" her mother inquired. "I saw your last contest, and I'm so proud! You did fabulously, and you're on your way to another Grand Festival!"

"Aw, Mom, you're making me blush. But anyway, you won' believe what Luke and I did today! Lucas--"

But Dawn's speech was interrupted by a sneeze. "Bless you!" she told Lucas, giggling.

"Wasn't me," he shrugged.

"Oh, that was me!" Johanna said quickly. "I think I must be coming down with something. Horrible cold, I'm afraid. Could barely get out of bed!"

But her excuse was disproven by a sneeze that echoed in the middle of her words. This time, Dawn was easily able to locate the origin of it. She whirled around and faced her mom's closet. She crept closer, despite her mom's disapproving warnings and desperate attempts to stop her. She suddenly slammed the door open, and a figure inside jumped about a foot in the air.

"Professor Rowan?!"

Lucas raced over to see if it was his actual mentor and hero standing in his girlfriend's mother's closet. Rowan was indeed in the closet, wrapped up in a fur coat, probably to cover a naked body._ So that explained the sneezing_, Lucas processed, _but nothing was explaining the fact that he was standing **in his girlfriend's mother's closet**_**.** He couldn't believe his eyes as he shouted,

"What the hell, Professor?!" simultaneously with Dawn as she shouted,

"What the hell, Mom?!"

Johanna and Rowan scrambled to stand next to each other, to grasp each other's hands, and to collect their dignity. Just like the teenagers, they said simultaneously,

"I won't be spoken to like that!"

Johanna continued, "It's honestly not what it looks like!"

Dawn fumed. Her face was so red, Lucas was afraid it might explode like a volcanic eruption at Mt. Stark. "Oh please, Mother! In your closet? What are you, five? 'It's not what you think'? That line is so over-used! You don't know what I think. Let me enlighten you!" She shrieked. "I think you're having sex with a professor! I think you're acting like a total slut! I think you're not the woman I believed you to be." Her voice cracked near the end.

Johanna was upset by this. She may have kept secrets from Dawn, but she never, ever, wanted to hurt her. Dawn was her world. "Dawn, I have something to tell you. Richard...I mean, Professor Rowan and I have been dating for 16 years."

"Six...teen years? D-d-does that m-mean....?" Dawn croaked after a moment of stunned silence.

"That I'm your father?" Rowan said gruffly. "Yes, Dawn, I am your father." He had his usual stern expression on, but Lucas, who had spent five years with Rowan, was getting better at deciphering his expression and thought he saw a trace of love and passion cross his eyes.

"I can not believe you." Dawn told her mother, carefully enunciating every word, allowing the pain and betrayal to seep into her voice. "You lied to me. You've been lying to me for fifteen years!"

Dawn turned away from the blue-haired woman before her, as if she couldn't even stand to look her in the eye. She did the same thing she did yesterday, when she was overloaded with emotion and she couldn't take it anymore: she bolted.

Before she could make it out the door, though, her mother called,

"Lucas! Stop her! Now!"

"Why? You've done nothing to deserve her attention!" he shot back.

"Lucas, as your mother, I'm commanding you to go get Dawn!" Johanna clapped her hand over her mouth, as if she'd let something slip that she hadn't meant to. But it was too late, the deed was done, and Dawn and Lucas heard every word. At least Johanna had managed to stop Dawn from running away. Her daughter halted in her tracks, and you could practically hear the sound of a car brake squealing to a stop.

"What did you say?"

"Mother?" Lucas asked in a startled, disbelieving whisper.

"Looks like you have a lot if explaining to do, my dear." Rowan remarked grimly.

And she did. At first, she tried to apologize profusely, but Dawn and Lucas wouldn't accept until she finished her story.

**-*-*-JOHANNA'S POV-*-*-**

I could recall it as clearly as I could recall the past five minutes. Summer rolled around, I won my first Grand Festival, and I was ecsatic to be back home. Lucas, I remember meeting your father because he was walking while reading, that he bumped into me when my back was turned. It was like a movie. The flowers I was picking fell out of my arms, the book fell out of his hands, and as we bent to pick up each other's articles, our eyes met, and what can I say? It was love.

Maybe it was foolish, young love, but it was love nonetheless.

The next couple of months just flew by. I wish you'd known your father then, Lucas, because he was a great young man. He practically overflowed with enthusiasm for his work. He loved learning and knowig things, just like you. He was full of energy, willing to travel around the regions, and always dying to be out in the open fresh air. We dated for two years after that, and we were so perfectly happy that he proposed, even though he was due for research in Kanto and I was at the peak of my coordinating career, having just won my third Grand Festival. But being in love blinded me, and I said yes, which I know now was a mistake, seeing how I was just eighteen. It was a simple wedding, because your father was never really into frivolity. And then when I got pregnant with you, Lucas, I thought I would burst with contentment.

But your father did not want a child yet. He was busy with travel and his work, and he told me that he knew he wouldn't be home enough to see his boy. But I understood. He promised me that during his travels he would call often, and come home as soon as he could.

I wish I could say he was there at your birth. I wish I could say that there was someone at home to help me when you cried in the middle of the night. I wish I could say someone else besides me changed your diapers. I wish I could say that your father was around when you were a baby, but I can't.

When he came home, about twice a year, all we did was fight. I complained that he was never home, he told me he thought I understood his need to expand his career, I argued that I gave up my own career for him.

One year, when you were three, things got especially bad. He had called less often this year, missing dates that were important to me, like our anniversary. When he got home, I let it all out. I screamed at him the frustrations of our marriage, how unfair it was for him to be able to continue what he loved while I couldn't. And then he told me he was tired of me dragging him down.

You don't understand heartbreak if you haven't heard something like that ge told to your face by someone you thought you loved. Dawn, my child, I hope that neve happens to you.

That's when I knew I no longer loved him. I took Lucas and walked out. I returned to my hometown, Twinleaf, and stayed with my parents. I bought the house next door, our house, with the money I had stored up from contests. I was healing slowly from the suffering I had just been through. Slowly, but surely. Until you turned five.

Your dad wanted you back, so he could teach you and train you to become a Pokemon researcher, just like him. There was nothing I could do to stop him from taking you with him, after all, he was your father and he had rights. Believe me, I would have fought for you tooth and nail if I thought I could win.

The next year was the hardest, darkest of my life. I still can't talk about it. I had lost everything. I was in the woods, half-mad, talking to myself and the trees, when Richard found me.

He cared for me, patiently, just as if I was one of the Pokemon he was studying. He treated me just as gently, as carefully. I reluctantly learned to trust him, to love him. And then I had you. I had to hide you from Lucas's father, because we never had an actual divorce. I believe myself to be married to Richard Rowan in every way, except for the legal one. Eventually, he had to see you, but I never told him who the father was. You look nothing like Richard. You are my exact image, so there was no way he could ever discover the truth. I'm sorry I had to seperate the two of you like that, but I ensured that you became close friends.

But other than that, I was perfectly happy again. No, I did not rush into this happiness like I had with the last one, and it took years for it fully develop, but that is the reason why it's infinitely more beautiful.

Dawn and Lucas, don't you see the similarities? Lucas has his father's eyes, and Dawn's has mine, but the hair is the same! And your names. You were the sources of light in my dark life. Dawn, your name makes this seem more obvious, but Lucas, your name is derived from the Latin word for "light." And trust me, you two were my sunshine. If you don't believe a word I say, or even if you never trust me again, know this: I love you two beyond reason, and all that I do--and have done--is for the two of you.

Lucas, your grandfather is your dad's dad, who your dad thought would be willing to help raise you. Your little sister is a child born from your father and another one of Rowan's assitsants. She's brunette, and is in no way blood-related to me.

Dawn, on the other hand, is your half-sister. Isn't that just the most delightful news you've ever heard?

**-*-*-DAWN'S POV-*-*-**

Was she kidding? Was my selfish, lying, deceiving, completely insane mother kidding?

Arceus was definitely screwing me over. That damn Alpha Pokemon gives me happiness and then, ten seconds later, decides to reveal that my happiness is totally gross and incestual?

Yeah, thanks.

I couldn't even look at Luke! Luke, who went from being the baby who already knew how to read, from my best friend, to my boyfriend, then to my brother? Oh my gosh, my boyfriend is my brother. Oh. My. Gosh._ I kissed my brother_. His lips touched mine, and all that similar DNA mixed--_ugh_!

I could feel Luke's gaze burning into the back of my head. It was like he had laserbeams in his eyes, and he was engraving into the back of my head, LOOK AT ME, DAWN.

So I did. He motioned that I follow him outside, probably so we could talk. I was dreading this. My breakup with Gary had been god-awful, but this was going to be pure awkwardness. I followed him anyway, because I decided it was better than staying in a room with my mother and a new dad.

Dad. I've never had a dad before. But first things first--and Luke was waiting for me.

Lucas had his back to me, watching the sunset. It's dull orange-y-ness was lit up by the streaks of pink. It looked gorgeous, like the sun was painting a canvas of swirling colors across its sky. Or like the sun had a cat that barfed all over the sky.

I think all the stress from the past few days was making me just a tad more sarcastic than usual. Just a little.

But I was brought away from my own inner ramblings by the sound of Luke talking to me.

"Dawn," he said softly, in a tone I couldn't recognize. The evening light tossed a shadow across his eyes, so that I wasn't able to read anything in the stormy grayness. I was getting really nervous.

"Dawn," he sighed, repeating my name. "I think...it's time we broke up."

And that's when it hit me. I made a boyfriend, found out he was my brother, and got dumped all in less than a day.

"I completely agree," I said solemnly, finally meeting his eyes. But as I looked into the warm, comforting familiarity that was his eyes, I couldn't contain myself. I had to laugh. I cracked up so hard, I had to bend over my knees to breathe.

"What the hell is so funny?" Lucas asked, bewildered.

I wheezed in between laughs, "The...whole situation! Just my luck...too absurd! I got dumped by _my brother_!"

Lucas started laughing too. "Not your everyday story," he agreed.

"I know! It's like some people complain, 'OMG, my boyfriend who was like totally my best friend and the love of my life just broke up with me!' and now I can just tell them, 'Uh, honey, my brother just broke up with me!'"

Lucas leaned against me, trying to catch his breath after cracking up. He said, "And you thought your life was bad. No one will be able to beat out story."

"Maybe if they got drowned and found the lost city of Atlantis, dined with the giant Tentacruel and brought home a pet mermaid, they could beat this story."

We looked at each other, then grinned. "Nope, not even then!"

We rolled around on the ground, laughing harder than ever. It wasn't even that funny, but when something sucked this badly and this ridiculously, there was nothing left for us to do but laugh our asses off and then leave it in the past forever.

Hiccupping himself to calm, Lucas grasped me by the shoulders until I was calm myself. "In all seriousness, Dawn, I think I'm glad it turned out like this. I've always had a crush on you, ever since that day I kissed your knees to make everything better. The past several hours were probably the bet of my life, but now it's easier for me to be with you. I can protect you, and care about you, be your best friend, be your worst enemy, and love you forever. I guess that's all I really wanted."

I was surprised by two things. First, I asked him, "Whoa--really, you've liked me all that time?"

He nodded shyly, averting his gaze again. We were leaning against the side of my house, sitting on the porch. I asked him another question.

"When did you come up with all that reasoning?"

"During your...our mom's story. It was too sappy and dramatic for me to listen to," he chuckled. "So I just blocked most of it out and thought to myself and worked things out in my head. It's better to be your half-brother, because I get all the good parts of the relationship, minus the drama and heartbreak and blah blah blah."

"Yeah, heartbreak basically sucks."

"Not that I would ever break your heart--if we would date, I mean," he amended quickly. "Not like stupid Oak did."

I didn't reply. _Luke was right_, I silently fumed. _Stupid Oak_.

Lucas sighed next to me. Reluctantly, he got up, and offered his hand to me. I took it and we headed back inside after he pulled me up. I blushed a little at the physical contact between us. This was gonna take some getting used to.

Johanna looked relieved that we weren't angry. I don't think I could forgive her for lying to me for fifteen years, but at least she told us the truth.

"So, dear, what have you been doing? What were you and Lucas up to, and why are you back home all of a sudden?"

"Well, Mom, it's a long story."

I looked to Lucas. "Would you mind giving me and my mom...and...dad some privacy?"

"Of course not," he insisted. "Today was a lot of fun, Dawn. Definitely not something I could ever forget." He hugged me goodbye, and callled as he headed out the door, "Seeya, baby sis!"

I faced my parents and took a deep breath. "Dad..."

"Call me Rowan. It's what both of us are used to," he corrected me sternly. "And us old-timers aren't very used to change," he added with a wink.

I grew up with Rowan. I've pretty much known him my entire childhood. Maybe having him as a dad wouldn't be so bad, because he was basically the only father figure in my life.

So I told them--both of them--my entire story, including part of the bet, up until today. I changed the story to make it seem like Lucas and I just hung out and reconnected just like any normal old friends. When my mother asked me if I was happy about having Lucas as a brother, I could honestly say with my whole heart that I was.

But of course, when I was finally done, they had to stick their noses in my business and give me advice. I sat there patiently, listening to the scold and eventually dish out some advice. To tell the truth, it was pretty good advice. I was going to listen to it, and maybe I could fix this whole messy bet business, and win back my friends, and get the guy.

I hugged my parents goodbye, explaining that I wanted to go and try outtheur advice as soon as possible. They accepted it and let me ago. I gave my mom a hug, because I always did, but when I turned to Rowan, he smiled at me warmly. I wasn't sure if I was just noticing how gentle that smile could be, or if his smile at me had always been that warm. Having Rowan's protective, fatherly arms around me was something I think I could get easily used to.

As I headed out, I made a stop at Sandgem, even though it was night because I spent so much time talking to my mom and dad. I knocked on the little house that was tucked into a corner of the town. Luke answered it, and his grin was a million miles wide when he saw me standing there.

"Dawn!" he cried. Then he noticed my backpack strapped and ready for travel, and his bright smile faded. "Guess you're going back now, huh?"

I sighed. "I love our little hometowns. Nothing is better than being back here, but Hearthome is special to me, too. I have two homes now."

Lucas echoed my sigh as he leaned against the doorway and folded his arms. "I'm gonna be sorry to see you go...baby sis." he made a face then chuckled slightly, adding, "that will take some getting used to. But here, take my Staraptor, to make the trip a little easier."

"Agreed, and thanks. But it won't be too bad having you as a bro. You gonna talk to your dad?"

Lucas frowned. "Nah. He doesn't deserve any attention from me. Plus, he's never home. Maybe I can convince Rowan to fire him," he grinned hopefully.

I laughed. "I gotta go, big brother. But I'll definitely be seeing you soon."

Just as I turned away from his house, I heard him call out my name. I stopped and turned to see him come flying at me. He fell to the ground and hugged me by the knees so tightly that I nearly toppled.

"Dawn, don't leave me!" Luke cried, but I could see the mockery in his gray-blue eyes. I tried to drag myself away from him, but he held on tight. "At least let me give you a proper goodbye!"

I rolled my eyes playfully and consented. But I was shocked when he gave me a kiss on the knee.

"What the--?"

He grinned devilishly. "A kiss to make everything better." His face grew more serious as he added, "I really hope things get better for you. You deserve it, Dawn." He got up and set me free. He started waving goodbye to me as I mounted his Staraptor.

And for as long as I was looking back, he didn't stop.

On the flight home, I couldn't help but believe that things would get better from here. I was armed with my parents' advice, a big brother who would do anything for me, and a maturity that I had developed during the long talk with Johanna and Rowan.

From here, things would improve. Or everything would go horribly wrong and my life would fall apart worse then ever.

But I hope not.

* * *

**A/N:** I warned you. This is my craziest plot twist yet! Tell me what you think...too crazy? Too cliche? I have pretty much my entire plot figured out for sure now. I know most of the details, but if anyone has requests...I'm open to anything! Except don't ask me for a certain shipping. I already know who Dawn's gonna end up with, and ain't nothing is gonna change my mind! And you are left sitting there in suspense...

Oo, fanfiction tells me this is ten thousand words. Well, now maybe you won't be as mad at me for taking so long (I think almost three weeks?) to update =)

Oh, Dawn. She's growing up. Getting mature. Like a lot of my friends nowadays. *sigh*

Plus, I also apologize for May's OOC-ness. But, love makes you do crazy things, and May loves Drew a lot--at least in my story. This chapter was especially fun to write, because I based it more off the game and than the anime, so I had lots of freedom to develop Lucas. Right now, I think Lucas is my favorite character. XD

Anyway, sorry it took so long, and sorry if the ending seems rushed. . I tried to avoid it, but...there's not stopping a deadline!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **WARNING! This chapter is the reason I decided to rate my fic 'T'.

* * *

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON POV-*-*-**

A week had passed since the unforgettable day with Luke and the rest of Dawn's newly found family. When she got back to Hearthome, she found her apartment empty of her friends, or any of their random clothes and suitcases. After a little bit of half-hearted, dubious searching for some evidence of where her friends were, she found a little note from Zoey on the kitchen table. It read,

"Dear Dawn,

Sorry about the other night. I've taken May to a nearby hotel, and we'll be staying there until my contest. I'm gonna try and calm her down, but you know how stubborn she can be. We'll just stay outta your hair...and if things don't get better...well, we'll be at my house in Snowpoint.

-Zo."

Dawn sighed. In one way, she was dreading seeing her friends, but in another, she was looking forward to it. She wanted to talk to May, to apologize, to promise to keep away from her beloved Drew. She wanted to tell her two best friends about her crazy story, the newest chapter in the heart-wrenching drama that was Dawn's life. She wanted to hear May sigh with delight at the romance of her kiss with Lucas; she wanted to hear Zoey snort with laughter at finding out she kissed her half-brother. She just wanted her friends back.

Dawn decided then that she would go to Zoey's contest to watch the redhead win her final ribbon, and then when she would sneak backstage and talk to both Zo and May about the whole big mess she had herself into. They would laugh, hug, and makeup, and everything would be better.

Or so Dawn hoped.

**----one week later----**

Dawn took one last good look at herself in the mirror. She had on a pair of plain blue jeans, and a simple pink t-shirt that was mostly covered by a baggy, pullover, v-neck hoodie. It wasn't something she'd usually wear, but it was modest and she wanted to show May that she could dress like a normal person every once in a while. She ran a brush through her hair, which she decided to leave unfixed and down. She inhaled deeply and hurried out the door.

"And welcome to the second to last contest of the season!" Marian's voice thundered through the speakers as Dawn slid into a seat in the stadium. She pushed her way past several people, and fought for the best seat: front row and center. Then she pulled her hood above her head, to avoid calling attention to herself.

"Our first competitor is…Shannon!" Marian continued to announce.

"Well, fancy seeing you here," a deep, mocking voice said in Dawn's ear.

Dawn nearly jumped out of her seat. "What the--! Drew?!" she gasped. "Why are you here?"

"Didn't you hear? Our good friend May is competing," he chuckled, as if he couldn't imagine May actually winning the contest.

"Uh, oh yeah..." Dawn said lamely. She didn't want anyone to know that the three of them were fighting.

"Hailing from Hoenn, we have May! This young star has got plenty of talent, but she hasn't entered in any other Sinnoh contests this year and unfortunately won't make it in time for the Grand Festival. But that's all right! Give it up for May!"

_Marian really likes to yell_, Dawn thought grimly. She said to Drew,

"So you came all the way here to watch May compete?"

"I came all the way here to watch May lose," he retorted, flicking his hair cockily. He turned to face Dawn, giving her a serious look. "But actually…I was concerned for May. I thought she gave up contests after losing the last Hoenn Grand Festival."

Dawn watched the third competitor, some other random person named Caitlin step up and wave to the audience. She paid careful attention when it was Zoey's turn.

Marian introduced Zoey. "And last, but most certainly not least, we have a Hearthome favorite entering today: Zoey!"

Dawn smiled with pride as the audience roared with applause and whistles. Zoey smiled broadly and waved. _That's my girl_, Dawn thought.

"Zoey does have a lot of charm, which May definitely lacks," Drew said, as if he had heard her thoughts.

"How did you find me anyway?" Dawn snapped. She didn't want to have to put up with his obnoxious commentary.

"Your blue hair stuck out from underneath you sweater," he laughed. "I remember when people have crazy hair like mine. Although," he paused to add in another hair flick. "Mine is significantly better."

Dawn flushed angrily. "Look--" but she was instantly shushed by a stranger sitting behind her. Dawn turned toward the stage, and saw that one of the contestants was winking to the crowd, performing her appeal with a Teddiursa. But it wasn't Zoey or Dawn, so she continued her rant.

But as she tried to yell at him again, she was stopped by Drew's confident smile._ It really was an adorable smile_, she admitted to herself. Dawn shook her head. _Drew is May's, Drew is May's, Drew is May's,_ she chanted to herself.

"What's with the face, Dawn? Are you dazzled by me? Don't worry, you're not the first. I'm used to it," Drew taunted.

Dawn just groaned, burying her head in her hands. She wasn't sure if she could survive this round.

In the end, though, it was Zoey who won. She and May had a tough battle, their scores almost exactly the same. But Zoey had used her Finneon against May's Blaziken, and the type advantage eventually helped Zoey pull through in the end.

Zoey had a smile wider than an Onyx spread across her face. She was way above excited. She was ecstatic, thrilled, delighted…she was every word for happy times a million. She had her fifth and final ribbon, and she was on her way to the Grand Festival!

"Thank you, thank you!" she cried, taking one last bow before running backstage. Dawn got up, ignoring Drew's inquiries and raced backstage to join her friends.

She wove through the maze of discarded contest outfits and crying competitors that Zoey had beaten. She knew what sounds to follow: the high pitched girl's tone, and the replying, lower, calmer voice. She found their sources standing above piles of clothing and accesories, carefully sorting through them and packing them into bags.

"Oh, Zo, you were fantastic!" May complimented. "Your appeal was so dazzling!"

"Aw, May, it wasn't that great. I never knew you were that good at contests, though! You should've come to Sinnoh earlier. Maybe you could've competed in the Grand Festival with me and Dawn."

Dawn stood quietly, not drawing any attention to herself. Neither of her friends noticed her; they were too absorbed in their own conversation.

"Hmmm, maybe you could come to Hoenn instead."

Dawn couldn't contain herself. "And leave me behind?" she asked, hurt.

Zoey looked at her apologetically, but May's expression cooled.

"Well, you can't deny that you deserve it," she said to Dawn.

Dawn couldn't believe that May was continuing the same arguement. "I didn't do anything!" she argued.

May closed her eyes, as if fighting with Dawn had tired her. "Please, Dawn, don't give me any pathetic excuses. I saw you. You were there with him _in the freaking front row_. Rubbing it in my face. _Don't_ pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."

Dawn was shocked. She didn't think of it that way. "No, you don't understand. He sat down next to me!"

Tortured pain flashed by on May's face, and Dawn rapidly backtracked. "I only meant that if I knew it would hurt you like that, I wouldn't have sat next to him. May, you have to know how much I care about you--you come before any boy! I should've moved and I'm sorry I didn't, but I couldn't just get up and leave without an excuse. It would've given away you secret crush!"

May listened silently, and took a deep breath. She focused on the ground, then on the ceiling. She couldn't meet Dawn's eyes, which were pleading for her forgiveness. She wanted to believe her--so, so much--but what if she trusted Dawn, and Drew fell in love with her anyway? She wouldn't be able to stand and watch the love of her life with her best friend. She was gonna end up losing one of them, no matter what. She had to make a life-changing choice. Right. Now.

She focused on the sound of her own breathing and shut her eyes again, closing out any other sights and sounds. She tried to remember her best moments with both Drew and Dawn.

**----flashback to when they were thirteen----**

"Drew! You're so annoying!" May said, frustrated.

"What did I do?!" Drew asked, puzzled.

May groaned. "I don't know! But you're gonna do something soon, so can you please just, like, leave?"

Drew laughed. The sound made May want to smile, laugh, and jump from rooftops. She fought to control the feeling. Drew pulled a rose from his Roselia and handed it to May, saying,

"Will this make up for anything stupid I do later in life?"

May, who was sniffing the rose, accidentally snorted a few petals into her nostrils. Drew cracked up over her expression, and she whacked him in the face with the rose.

"NO!"

Drew grinned slyly. "What can I do, then?"

May considered. "Well...you would have to owe me big time. I mean _huge_."

"Deal," he said as he shook on it. "On one condition."

"What?"

"I get to kiss you." And he did just that, stepping close to her body and brushing his lips ever-so-lightly against hers. He pulled away, but May was so stunned that she couldn't move. Drew released his Flygon and darted away before she could say a word. She could only watch him fly away, watch the sunlight shine on his beautiful hair, watch as he slipped away from her yet again.

**----flashback ends----**

May sighed. It was her first and last (so far) kiss. That was when she knew she was in love with Drew. She knew she always had a slight crush on the talented, handsome coordinator, but he was mostly just the annoyning rival. However, from the moment their lips touched, she knew he owned her heart. She could tell from the way her whole body melted and froze at the same time, from the way she felt Butterfree shake up her stomach and Pikachu send shocks throughout her whole body, and from the way she couldn't stop thinking and obssessing over the kiss for weeks after the kiss happened. Nothing but love could be that agonizingly confusing.

But Dawn has been her best friend for five years, since they competed at the Wallace Cup.

**----flashback to when they were thirteen----**

They were at a sleepover at Dawn's house in Twinleaf. It was late at night, so late that it wasn't even night anymore: it was about three AM. The three of them--May, Dawn, and Zoey--were running only on coffee and chocolate. They were braiding each other's hair, gossipping, and giggling as quietly as three teenagers could while on a sugar high. They didn't want to wake up Dawn's mom.

"Have you guys had your first kiss yet?" Dawn asked casually.

May blushed. This was just a few weeks after her encounter with Drew, and it clearly still had not left her mind. "Uh, of course not!"

Dawn raised her eyebrow skeptically, but Zoey interrupted her with a counterquestion.

"No, not yet...why, have you?"

Dawn blushed redder than May's bandana. "About that..."

"OHMYGOSH!" May shrieked. "Gary?!"

"Duhh," Zoey rolled her eyes. "Who else?"

Dawn nodded and her friends pressed her for more details. She stumbled and stammered,

"Well...I don't know! Maybe...ew! No, of course it wasn't wet! _May!_ Of course I had my shirt on! I don't know!"

Zoey and May fell into a pile of giggles. Dawn tried to distract them by asking,

"Who do you want your first kiss to be with?"

"Hmmm...someone who's a good trainer. Someone good-looking, with nice muscles. Someone who brushes his teeth!" Zoey said, finishing with another giggle.

May nodded enthusiastically. "What Zoey said!" They all giggled at the thought of kissing Prince Charming. They were on a giggle-high now.

Hours later, when they collapsed from exhaustion and were slowly sliding into sleep's grasp, Dawn spoke up.

"Guys....I hope your first kisses are really special. With someone you really, really care about. You guys are pretty, and sweet, and talented, and you deserve someone who just as awesome as you. Actually, if you got a guy who was as half as amazing as you guys are, you'd be pretty flipping lucky. I love you guys. You're my best friends and I want you guys to have the best."

May and Zoey had smiled and hugged her, thankful that they had a friend who cared so much.

**----flashback ends----**

Dawn cared about her friends. It was one of her strongest characteristics. Anyone could see that Dawn loved her friends as much as she loved her hair, and that was saying something. May's heart really was torn. She knew the saying "sisters before misters," but what if the mister was your one true love? What if the sister was closer to you than any real blood relative could be? Then what was the right choice?

Dawn was concerned. May hadn't moved or responded for a couple of minutes. "May...no need to worry. I'll understand if you don't forgive me. I know you love Drew. I know what it's like to love beyond reason...remember Gary? I'll understand."

That was what May needed to hear. "I wouldn't give you up even if my other choice was to give up my own arm. I love you, too, Dawn. You're my best friend..."

Dawn's eyes teared up with happiness and relief. "Good! 'Cause I would've been totally depressed if you didn't forgive me."

They hugged each other tightly, pulling Zoey in after a few moments to themselves.

They were interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps approaching and a male voice drawling,

"Well, well, I like what I'm seeing."

"Drew!" the three girls exclaimed in various tones of irritation.

He smirked and wrapped his arms around the girls to join in their little group hug. They laughed together before shoving him away.

"So what are you doing back here?" May inquired.

"Everyone's left the contest hall. I wondered what the heck was taking you ladies so long back here."

"Oh, shoot!" Zoey smacked her forehead. "The hall's gonna close soon! Hurry, May, get your stuff into your backpack!"

They tossed everything into their bags and hightailed it out of there.

**-*-*-DAWN'S POV-*-*-**

Once we were safely outside of the locked contest hall, we slowed our pace to a casual stroll. It was kinda cloudy out--there might be a storm coming soon, I noted.

"Well, since Zoey did such a fabulous job today, I think I'll treat her to lunch," Drew said.

May glared at him disbelievingly. "Hey! Didn't I do a good enough job?"

"Did you win?" Drew pointed out.

"Almost!" May pouted childishly.

Zoey stepped in. "Drew, Drew, Drew, you know I would, but I kinda sorta already have a boyfriend. But," she added with a sly grin, "I can go if it's a group. Can May and Dawn tag along?"

Drew flicked his hair. "Of course. I was only kidding and I didn't get the chance to invite them before May blew up all over my face."

May was about to shoot him an angry comeback, but he quickly turned his back and started walking in the direction of the most expensive restaurant in town.

When he was far enough away, Zoey and I started cracking up over May's face. It was hard to tell if she was so red because she was pissed off or red because she was blushing in the wake of her stunning Drew.

"C'mon, May, snap out of it! We have to catch Drew and I won't be afraid to let Piplup use Bubblebeam on you!" I called as I started running after the rapidly shrinking figure of Drew.

"Ugh, that boy is gonna kill me one day, I swear," I barely heard her mutter.

The restaurant was gorgeous--totally my taste and style. Lots of dramatic velvet curtains, plush seats, fancy mahogany tables…I twirled around as I sighed,

"This is my dream restaurant."

"Eh. Too stuffy in here. It's like my grandma decorated it," Zoey shrugged indifferently. May, on the other hand, was vastly more excited.

"Oh my gosh, look at this place! It's so fancy. I bet their food is amazing!" She said in an awed, hushed tone.

"Watch your drooling, May," Drew said without turning to face us, but I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

He was obnoxious, but he was still a gentleman. He held out a chair for every one of us girls. May blushed fiercely when she sat in hers, and her smile gave away how pleased she was.

"Thanks, Drew!" we chorused.

He smirked. The waiter handed us all a menu, giving May a special wink when he handed over hers. Zoey and I raised our eyebrows at each other.

May was pretty, even if she didn't see it much. Her hair was a gorgeous, shiny, brunette tone, and her sparkling eyes were bluer than the sky. _Bluer than mine_, I noticed a little enviously. She had clear skin and a tiny nose. Of course she was beautiful. Why couldn't Drew see it?

"So what would you ladies like to drink?" the waiter, Jason, asked.

Drew cleared his throat loudly.

"And you, too, sir," Jason added reluctantly.

"Root beer," Drew said giving him a condescending look as he flicked his hair _yet again._

"Hmmm, I think I'll have a strawberry banana smoothie," May requested.

"Anytime," he said with another wink. May blushed and averted her gaze.

"Look, dude, are you gonna keep harrassing her or are you gonna do your freaking job?" Drew snapped, half-rising from his chair.

Jason looked like he wanted to fight back, but he was probably considering his job. "Sorry, sir," he muttered.

"Cherry soda," I ordered in a hurry, to avoid any more awkwardness.

"Uhm, iced tea," Zoey followed my example.

We sat there for a moment after Jason left, not saying anything and avoiding eye contact by all means possible. Zoey cleared her throat. May's stomach growled. Drew drummed his fingers against the expensive-tablecloth-covered table.

"Sooooo," I eventually broke the silence. "Nice contest, you guys."

"Yeah," Drew agreed. "Crushed all those amateurs. Very pretty appeals, but powerful battles. Impressive."

All our jaws dropped to the table.

"Did you just…compliment us?" May asked incredulously.

"Maybe, maybe not." Drew said, a little embarrassed. "But I thought you gave up contests, May."

May sighed. "I did for a little."

Drew waited expectantly for her to continue. But she didn't say anything more.

I sat there, evaluating May's silence. I knew Drew and her were good friends, and she wouldn't normally hide anything from him. So it had to be something about her crush! Did May quit because of Drew? It wasn't like May to give up…wait! Maybe she quit after Drew had rejected her! Maybe…being in a contest reminded her too much of him. I was pleased with myself for figuring all that out, but I was still curious. What exactly had happened that had hurt May so much?

"Well, anyway, I'm glad you're back," Drew finally said when May didn't speak up.

"It's good to be back," she nodded. They were staring each other down intensely. Ooo, you could practically feel the restrained lust in the air. It was sweet but kinda gross at the same time. I mocked them while they couldn't see me, making exaggerated lovey-dovey faces at Zoey and reaching over to try and grope her face. She choked back her laughter and slapped my hands away. I winked at her.

A new waiter came back with our drinks. Guess Jason got smart. The new one took our orders and left without a big show.

"What was up with all that defensiveness before, Drew?" Zoey asked teasingly.

"Defensiveness? I don't know what you're talking about!" He scoffed. Was it just the lighting, or did his face just get slightly, slightly flushed? Awww! Little Drewy was actually blushing!

"Mmhmm. I'm sure you have absolutely no idea what we're talking about," I responded knowingly. I took a casual sip of cherry soda, ignoring the frantic signals May was sending for us to stop. Zoey  
continued the questionnaire,

"What do you have to be defensive for anyway, Drew? It's just us. We're all friends here, after all."

"My point exactly," he said. "I'm not defending cause there is nothing here worth defending."

"Ouch," I pouted, fake-hurt.

Drew rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Yeah, whatever, you guys are being stupid." May said, relieved we were done with the hints.

The waiter came back with our food soon, and we all dug in. May devoured hers while the three of us sat there watching her nervously.

"What?" she questioned, cocking her head to the side as she slurped up a noodle.

We smirked at her but didn't answer, choosing to eat our own food instead. Of course, we ate tons slower than she did.

Later that night, after Drew had gone to wherever he was staying--actually, now that I think about it, I had no idea where he was staying. Maybe I should've asked and invited him over. _May would've liked that,_ I giggled to myself.

Zoey and May were too tired to ask what I was laughing about. Being in a contest defintely wear you out. When we reached my apartment, they crashed on my bed, fully-dressed. It was only eight o'clock!

I sighed but smiled. I really wanted to tell my friends what had happened in Twinleaf, but they deserved rest. They had worked so hard today. I gently tucked a blanket around their snoring bodies, and walked out of my own room, flipping the light off.

I wasn't sleepy, but there wasn't much to do in the apartment that wouldn't wake them up. I switched on the TV and plopped on the couch, unsure of what else to do. I decided to watch the coordinating channel. Maybe they would have a playback of today's contest.

There wasn't a playback, but as I was flipping through the channels, I stopped on the history channel, because I familiar voice was drawling talking about his Pokemon research.

"Yeah, we discovered that if any Pokemon takes this new vitamin..."

But I wasn't interested in what he was saying. That was all boring blahblahblah. His face caught my attention. That cocky grin…that adorably spiked brown hair…his arrogant black eyes…that is the face of the one and only Gary Oak. I had seems him just a few weeks ago when I won my contest, but we didn't interact much because I was still mad at him and too absorbed with Ash. As I watched Gary talk and laugh onscreen, I realized how much I missed him. It was hard having to forget about him. I wanted nothing more than to reach over and try to flatten his hair, to kiss his cheek, or even just to hug him one more time.

I internally smacked myself. _No, no, no, Dawn! You're not going down that dark path ever again!_

I glanced over at my friends. Zo was snoring, May was drooling. They were so out of it, I doubted they would ever notice if I stepped outside for a second to get some fresh air. I quickly put on my coat, and took the elevator down. This would just be a sec.

I tucked my hands in my pockets, strolling leisurely along and humming softly to myself. I didn't really notice where I was going. I was too busy trying to sort out my thoughts, and anyways, there was a reason they called it Hearthome. It was perfectly safe and peaceful, even at night.

Gary. The jerk. The _hot_ jerk. I sighed. I don't think it would ever be possible to get over him.

I stopped walking and leaned against a tree. I looked up at the sky, and it took my breath away. The night sky was brightened by streetlights, but for some reason, I could still see a star shooting across the sky. I closed my eyes, unsure what to wish for.

Gary? I didn't want to be specific. I wanted to let the magic just happen, and that way, I wouldn't be disappointed.

I wish for…my friends to be happy, I wish for…my new family to be safe, I wish for…becoming the Master Coordinator, and I wish for…true love.

I opened my eyes and smiled contently to myself. Another movement in the corner of my eye caused me to turn. Maybe another shooting star?

No, it was just Drew, taking an evening walk just like me. He was headed in my general direction, but it didn't really look like he was walking towards me specifically. This would be the perfect time to get Drew and May together! I bet I could totally nail it through his lettuce-growing head that May was the absolute number one girl for him.

"Hey! Hey, Drew!" I called as I stepped out of the shadows.

Drew looked around confusedly. Underneath the streetlight, I could just barely see the squint of his eyes. I waved again, this time more exuberantly. Recognition dawned (ha, pun!) on his face, and he stumbled over in my general direction.

Huh. He was acting pretty weird. Drew was always so calm and cool and collected. What was up with him?

I headed towards him, since he seemed to be having trouble finding me.

"Hey, Drew! You alright?"

Suddenly, he collapsed on the ground. I gasped and rushed to him as fast as Dawn-ly possible.

"Oh my Alpha!" I bent over Drew shook him. "What the hell is wrong with you? Hey! Get up!" I was freaking out. Was he okay? He had to be okay!

"Gah, May, why are you so loud?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes and finally opening them.

What? May?

"I'm perfectly fine, May. Stop being so pushy." He lay back on the ground and sighed. Did he plan on sleeping here? I tugged on his shoulder.

"Get up, Drew. What the hell are you doing?" I grumbled. I pulled his arm harder.

"I said stop it!" he snapped at me. He yanked his arm out of my grip. Then, he actually reached back out and slapped me. Right across the face.

My eyes watered from the sting. "Fine, you lazy son of a bitch! Just lie here and get hit by a car. You deserve it!"

I stomped away. But I could hear him calling from behind me,

"May…please…my head hurts. Don't leave me behind here."

I groaned. He may be acting like a total asshole, but I didn't really want him to die. I trudged back to him reluctantly and held out my hand. He grabbed it, but instead of pulling himself back up he pulled me down to join him on the gravel.

"Ow! Drew! The ground is dirty and hard!"

He ignored this. "Oh, May, I'm so sorry I hit you. Do you forgive me?" He got all up in my face, and then it hit me. He smelled like smoke, like dirt...like alcohol.

This was getting worse. I looked him directly in the eye and said sternly,

"_Don't_ tell me you've been drinking."

He squirmed underneath my gaze. "No…"

But as he tried to reach for my hand, he missed completely and ended up grabbing the air about two feet away from my hand.

"May! Stop running away!"

I slapped his hand away. "Stop being so clingy! It's kinda scary seeing you like this. I gotta get you to a hotel or something. And besides, I'm not May!"

Drew frowned. "Awww…May, you hate me, don't you? Now you're lying to me!"

And that's when the great Drew started to cry. Oh, for Mesprit's sake. I told him to get up again, and I repeatedly but (somewhat) gently slapped his stomach.

"MAY HATES ME!" He bawled. Okay, it was a little funny to see him cry with snot running down his normally perfect face, but he was still my friend and I was gonna help him no matter what.

"Fine! I don't hate you! Now can we please get up before you barf all over the street or something?!"

"Yay! May loves me again!" he cheered, suddenly swithing moods as he threw his arms around me again. Ugh, he smelled absolutely repulsive. He must have drunk at least three beers, and probably some other stuff too. I tried to pull away from his smelly face, but he held on tighter.

"Since you love me so much, May, why don't you prove it right now?" he said seductively. His mood swings were really starting to freak me out. He rolled on top of me and pinned my hands onto the ground with his hands. Okay, first of all, ouch, and second, what in Sinnoh was he doing? May would kill me if I did anything at all with her Drew. And why would he wanna do anything with me--especially if he thought I was May? He was the one who rejected her after all. Was there something more to the May and Drew love story that I didn't know?

I shoved against him hard and snapped, "Get off me now!"

"No! You love me! You have to love me!" He bent down to kiss me. He was drunk and sloppy and he tasted so awful.

I shook my head to get him off me and screamed, "DREW! Get the fuck off me, RIGHT NOW!"

But he continued to mumble to himself, "She loves me, she loves me, she loves me..."

I was starting to really freak out. Drinking totally messed with people's judgement. Drew wasn't stopping he was sliding his hand up my shirt, and unzipping my jeans with the other hand. Oh no, oh no, oh no, he wasn't going to rape me was he? I had to do something. I thrashed against him, since he already released my hands to feel me up. I punched his gut and even his face, but he didn't notice. I wanted to kick his balls, but his legs held down my own.

Last resort: scream. I screamed bloody murder, praying to Arceus that someone would come running with help.

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON POV-*-*-**

The boy, whose face was hidden by the dark, hurried through the night. It was cold and dark, and even in a city as benign as Hearthome he wasn't comfortable running through the streets. He pulled out a PokeBall and whispered,

"Hey, Arcanine, buddy--come on out and keep me company."

A giant canine creature appeared next to it's master and gave him an affectionate lick. He scratched it behind the ears absentmindedly. He was thinking about a time when he was with a girl and this Arcanine, scratching its head and just playing around together.

He snapped back to attention. Did he just hear a scream? Ah well, he better hurry before he ended up being the one screaming.

He was getting closer to his friend's apartment when he heard it again. Someone was definitely screaming.

"We better help her, whoever it is, Arcanine!" he ran to towards the sound. The screaming grew louder and he grew more panicked.

"Arcanine, ExtremeSpeed now, and tackle whoever's the attacker!"

His Pokemon shot ahead, an he ran to keep up. He saw a sudden flame, which must be his Arcanine signaling to him.

"I'm coming!" he shouted. Upon arriving at the scene, he skidded to a halt. What he saw horrified him. He took the girl who had been crumpled on the ground into his arms, stroking her matted hair very gently, and whispering,

"Oh, crap, Dawn, what the hell happened to you?"

He looked around to try and find whoever it was he ordered Arcanine to attack. He was shocked to see it was Drew who was struggling to get up, but each time he moved, Arcanine would growl threateningly and bare its teeth.

"Lemme help you with this scum," and he walked over and punch Drew in the face, so hard that he was completely knocked out.

He touched Dawn gently on the face. "Hey, can you walk?"

She mumbled and shook her head, disoriented. He turned away respectfully as she straightened up her appearance. It had been pretty obvious what Drew had been trying to do with her. Drew was his friend, but he never thought that Drew would sink so low as to hurt a girl. He turned to face her again and gently took her up in his arms bridal-style. He whistled one long note and his Arcanine bounded over obediently. He carefully laid her across its back and warned,

"Make sure you're extra cautious and gentle with her!"

It nodded once and at different speeds, Pokemon and trainer started running back to Dawn's apartment.

**----thirty minutes later----**

Arcanine was already at the door when he got there. It was sniffing at the crack between the door and the floor, whining and scratching at the it. He couldn't tell if Dawn was asleep, or fainted, or just slumped on the floor fainted. He hurried to them and scratched his Pokemon's ears.

"Good job, buddy," he whispered to it. Then he raised his voice and shouted at the closed door, "HEY! OPEN UP NOW!" He continued to pound on the door until he heard the sound of shuffling and a grumpy girl's voice.

"Geez! What's with all the banging--" Zoey stopped short when she saw the boy and his Arcanine and Dawn on the floor. "Whaaa...? What…why? Oh my gosh! Dawn?!" she recovered herself and cried out, "What happened?! You better explain yourself right now or else!"

He held up his hands to avoid Zoey's fury and rushed to explain, "Whoa there, Nelly! I didn't do a thing! It was some other scum! Drew." He hissed out the name in disgust.

"Did someone just say Drew?" another girl's voice ask sleepily. _It was only, like, nine. Why was everyone sleeping?_ He wondered.

"Uh, no! I said…shoe! Yeah! I like…his shoes!" Zoey quickly covered up.

May padded towards them, yawning. "Who are you talking to?" Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw the boy standing there, trying to lift up the limp Dawn. "Oh my Arceus. _Gary?!_"

**-*-*-DAWN'S POV-*-*-**

My head really hurt. I opened my eyes slowly, reluctantly. The world was blurry, and spinning. I breathed evenly until it steadied itself. The first thing I focused on was Zoey's bright hair.

"Sweetie…are you feeling okay?"

I answered her by throwing my arms around her neck. I remembered what happened last night. It was the scariest moment of my life: the scary part was having no control over the situation. I was about to be raped and there was nothing I could do about it. I started crying…I couldn't hold it in anymore.

May ran into my bedroom and threw her arms around us. "Oh, thank God,  
you're okay!"

They held me for the longest time, not letting go until my tears dried up. I wanted to stop crying, but each time I tried, the feeling of being so helpless and violated came back to me and I started all over again. I finally stopped when my eyes started to hurt and my nose was rubbed raw by tissues that were silently handed to me by May.

"He came in last night and explained everything," Zoey said somberly.

"Who, D--"

My reply was cut off by Zoey, who shot her a warning glare, using her eyes to point to oblivious May.

I corrected myself and started over, saying, "Wait, who came over and explained everything?"

"Gary, of course!" May's eyes sparkled as if this was the most exciting thing to happen since the cheeseburger.

I was still confused, so Zoey told me the whole story, leaving out Drew's name so May wouldn't freak. When she was telling me how I was saved by Gary, I felt my heart thump faster. It was just like Gary to play the hero. It was like I couldn't control myself when it came to him. And he had hurt me pretty bad. Being with Gary was something I couldn't forget, both in a good way and bad.

"Where is he?"

Zoey answered, "He staying at a hotel."

"Do you know why he's even here in Sinnoh?"

Zoey looked at me seriously. "I think that's something you're gonna have to ask him yourself."

"I'm too tired to get up. And…I'm not really sure I even want to see him."

May said uncertainly, "Well…he said he was gonna come over today. You know, just to make sure you would be all right. And we said yes and all cause he's really smart and he'd be able to tell better than either of us could."

"We're sorry!" Zoey cried. "We don't wanna upset you anymore."

I sighed, falling back against my pillow. "No, it's fine. Whatever. It's not like I'm gonna fall in love with him all over again."

I saw them exchange a look, and I knew that it was exactly what they feared would happen.

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON POV-*-*-**

Dawn, still in her pajamas while resting and lying in bed, glanced anxiously at the clock. It was three in the afternoon. Gary should be here soon, and to be completely honest, she was not ready to see him.

Little did she know that right outside her apartment, an anxious Gary paced the floor. He was pretty sure that Dawn wouldn't want to see him. He made a huge mistake. Like, a Tropius-sized mistake. Last night, she was probably too disoriented to notice him, but by now her friends had definitely told her what happened. What would she do when she saw him? Slap him? Set her Pokemon on him? Cry? He could deal with anger, but tears would be too much. He couldn't stand to see a girl cry. He slapped himself in the face and dragged his hand down off his face. He deserved Dawn's hate, but he came all the way here to apologize, so he might as well give it his best shot. He held his breath and knocked on the door.

There were lots of hushed squealing, muttering and whispering, and the sound of someone dashing to the door and accidentally slamming into it. Gary smiled in spite of himself. May opened the door breathlessly, rubbing her forehead and smiling at him blushingly and welcomingly.

"Hi, Gary!" she added in a whisper as she led him into Dawn's room, "By the way, I'm rooting for you. You're way better than any of the other guys we know, and you and Dawn would look so cute together."

Zoey, who was standing in front of Dawn's door, had a completely different reaction to his appearance. "Look, pretty boy, hurt her like you did before and next time you look in a mirror you're face will be so messed up it will be like looking at a Feebas. Got it?" she snapped at him.

Gary gulped on the inside, but on the outside, he just nodded meekly. Right now, he really wanted to get to Dawn, and Zoey was standing in the way so he would do as she asked. Zoey glared at him sternly for another moment before stepping aside.

On the other side of the door, Dawn heard every word Zoey said. She was caught between deciding whether to chuckle at her defensiveness or to groan in frustration. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you viewed it) for her, she didn't have to decide because Gary walked in right at that moment. He moved slowly, as if trying not to startle a little baby Pokemon.

"Hi, Dawn," he said in a soothing voice. His voice had deepened since they had gone out.

"Hi, Gary," she responded unsurely--unsure of what she was feeling, and why she was feeling it. A thousand emotions raced through her heart, and she was too confused to identify any of them. Gary sat at the edge of her bed. She studied his face: it was as handsome as ever, but the gentleness in his eyes somehow made him seem less arrogant and more…human. Gary accidentally brushed his fingers against her leg, causing Dawn to shudder violently. The touch of another guy brought back of flood of memories that she had been trying block out all morning and afternoon. She remembered how Drew had so forcefully touched her, and she unconsciously recoiled from Gary. He looked crushed by this.

"Do you hate me now, Dawn?" he asked quietly, looking her intensely in the eyes.

"I--I don't know. I…I'm really just messed up right now, Gary. I don't know what to think." She took another shuddering breath and avoided his gaze. Something in the intensity of his brown eyes reminded her of how Drew was looking at her last night.

Gary was saddened by this visit. He could easily see how much the experience last night had screwed with Dawn's head. She couldn't even stand touching a guy anymore! He looked at her beautiful, terrified face one last time before saying, "I'm sorry this happened to you cause you definitely didn't deserve it. I'm here, though, Dawn. I'll be here to help you recover, and I won't leave you for a single moment."

He wanted to kiss her on the forehead--or just show her some sign that he cared, but the look on her face stopped him. He settled for one last smile before turning and exiting her room. Dawn couldn't relax until she heard the door shut as Gary left.

Two seconds later, May came barreling in. She jumped onto her bed, causing Dawn to fly half a foot into the air.

"Soooo…did he kiss you?? Did he?? Did he?!" May pestered.

Zoey rolled her eyes. "Leave Dawn alone. Can't you tell by her face that it did not go well?"

May's face fell. "Awww, man. I was really hoping for some Gary and Dawn love! I mean, he's just so dreamy and he's such a hero! Every girl wants a knight in shining armor, right?"

"Speak for yourself," Zoey mumbled under her breath.

May continued as if she hadn't heard her. "And Gary is totally your Prince Charming. He's good-looking, smart, a great Pokemon trainer, and he just saved your ass from a random stranger. What more could you ask for?"

Dawn sent Zoey a telepathic message that asked something along the lines of, _WHY THE HECK DOES MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT DREW?!_

Zoey told May, "Hey, how about some more ice cream, May? That always makes you feel better, so it should make Dawn feel better, too!" She shooed May out of the room. For a moment, the two of them just listened to May clang around in the kitchen and sing quietly to herself.

"Okay, what is your deal, Dawn?" Zoey growled. "Why do you keep bringing up Drew?"

"Gee, I don't know, maybe 'cause _he almost raped me?!_"

Zoey looked at the door anxiously, but no May walked in. "Shush! Stop saying his name so loudly. So, what, just because Drew made one mistake you're gonna ruin the rest of his life?"

"Don't make this about Drew, 'cause it's not! It's about me being almost raped by a drunk douchebag!"

Zoey sighed and rubbed her temples. "Look, Dawn, I know you've been through a whole bunch of crap lately, but it's not always about you! This is what got you into trouble last time--you didn't stop to think about other people's feelings, and look where it got you. Think about May for once."

That silenced Dawn. She listened grudgingly as Zoey continued, "She's doing so well. Seeing Drew today made her really happy...can't you see how excited she is? They couldn't take their eyes off of each other at dinner last night!"

"But she should know that her boytoy is not just an arrogant jerk, but also an alcoholic!"

"Shut. Up. May can work it out herself. She took two years to get to the place where she is now. Maybe she'll be able to give Drew another shot, or maybe they'll just stay friends. Don't influence her decision."

Dawn frowned, but she could see Zo's point. May should know that Drew has a drinking problem, but then again, it was Drew's business. It was his secret to tell, just like Barry's. It was not Dawn's problem.

But May was. And so that left her one last thing to do.

"Okay, Zo, I get what you're saying. But I gotta go and do something."

As she got dressed in a rush, Zoey spewed questions at her.

"What? Where are you going? What are you doing? Why aren't you answering me? DAWN! Talk to me!!"

By then Dawn had pulled on a simple sweatsuit. She pulled her hair into a sloppy ponytail and grabbed her Poketch before heading out. She called over her shoulder with one foot out the door,

"You're not May's only friend, you know! If I run into trouble again, I'll call you on my Poketch. I'll be right back!"

Zoey grabbed her arm before she could leave and tried to persuade her,

"What are you doing? You should be in bed, recuperating!"

"Zo, this is going to help me recuperate. I need to do this! See I already have so much energy! No need to worry!" She waved cheerily before slipping away.

May stepped out of the kitchen, carrying three giant bowls that held foot-high sundaes. She grinned and sang, "Who's ready for some ice cream?"

Zoey rubbed her temples for what felt like the millionth time today. _Time to come up with the excuse of the century,_ she grumbled to herself as she led May to the TV room.

**-*-*-DAWN'S POV-*-*-**

I pressed a button on my Poketch. "Gary?"

His face appeared on my screen and he looked surprised. "Dawn?"

"Where's Drew?"

"What? Why do you wanna know?"

"Look, I just need to know. Where did he go after…what happened last night?"

Gary's face twisted with disgust. "I don't know. After I got him off you, I didn't bother taking a second look."

I groaned. "Oh, okay, thanks anyway, Gary." just as I was hanging up, I heard him ask,

"Why--"

But it was too late. Honestly, I didn't care what he had to say. I don't think I could trust a boy ever again. Guess that throws Zoey's bet out the door, but I genuinely didn't care. So far, all boys had proven themselves to be disappointments.

I speed-walked through the streets. It was only four in the afternoon, but I didn't want to have to be out when it was dark. I don't know if I would ever be comfortable in the dark again, even in a town as welcoming as Hearthome.

I had a vague idea of where I was going. Drew was either in the hospital, police station, or back indulging himself in the bar. There was only one bar in Hearthome, and it was secluded and tucked away, because most citizens were ashamed of it. However, there were still a handful of loser, desperate alcoholics who demanded a bar. It was on the very, very edge of town, further back then Amity Square was. When I had finally reached it, I was more than a little scared to go in. There would be, without a doubt, more lecherous pervs in this bar. I wasn't sure if I could handle it, but when I thought of May's happiness, I felt braver. _The things I do for my best friends..._I shook my head as I pushed open the door.

Inside, it was dimly lit and practically empty. Some sleazy music was playing background. A few twenty-something men leered at me from a corner, but they already had a bunch of bleach-blonde, plastic-surgery-enhanced boobs hanging around them, so they left me alone. I ignored them anyway, because I spotted familiar crop of green hair. He had his back to me, and as I walked towards him, I watched him down another shot. He slammed the glass down next to a whole pile of glasses--there had to be at least a couple more sitting there. I was afraid to get anywhere close to him, but I tapped him on the shoulder anyway.

He swiveled towards me, and this was the most disheveled I had ever seen him. His eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, his hair looked like a Starly's nest, and his skin was smudged with dirt. It weirded me out.

"Dawn?" he croaked. "Is that actually you? Not another one of the...hallucinations?"

My hands were trembling from my anxiety, but I managed to control my voice. I informed him,

"I think you've had a little too much to drink," as I gestured to the cups surrounding him.

He scoffed. "This is nothing." And I suppose he had a point, because his words weren't too slurred and his eyes could focus onto mine.

I reluctantly sat down next to him and sighed. I rested my chin on my hand as I thought for a moment.

"Why do you drink, Drew?" I asked soberly. He was just sixteen, for crying out loud!

He didn't answer my question, replying instead with, "I'm so sorry about last night. I feel terrible, and the worst part is that I can't even remember exactly what it is I did. All I know that it was bad and that it involved me thinking you were May. Can you ever, ever forgive me?" At the last part, he put his hand on my knee in what was meant to be a comforting, appealing gesture. It failed: all it did was make me flinch and scoot back a foot.

"I take that as a no," he scowled to himself as he took another swig from a beer in front of him.

I felt bad about making him feel worse, but I had to do this. For May.

"Why do you drink, Drew?" I reiterated.

He gazed glumly at the empty bottle. He opened his mouth and raised his arm to wave over the bartender, but I grabbed his arm. I asked him again, and this time he looked away from me. I couldn't read his expression, but I heard his soft voice begin,

"Imagine you were me for a sec, Dawn. You had it all: the money, the good looks, the talent…everything but the girl you loved."

Where was he going with this? Could this mystery girl be May?

"When you can afford the best alcohol in the world, and you don't have parents who care enough to stop you, why _wouldn't_ you drink? This," he nodded towards the various empty containers spread before him, "is crap alcohol. But desperate times call for desperate measures."

He looked me straight in the eye and confessed, "I drink because it helps me forget. At first I wanted to forget the way my parents just left me behind while they were out by themselves. Yeah, I had my first taste of champagne when I was nine. That's messed up, but it's true. I found Roselia, and I started my own journey. I was happy enough that I didn't need to forget. Then I met May. She made me the best coordinator I could be. She made me happy…and I let her go. That was the stupidest thing I've ever done, but I had to. I was a fourteen-year-old alcoholic, and May was such a gifted coordinator that she deserved better than me. It haunted me for years later, but I tried to stop my addiction, so that maybe I could be just a little bit more worthy of her."

My eyes were wide with horror. "But…you were so young! Only a kid. And you started drinking?"

"I told you. No one was around to stop me."

"May cares. She would've stopped you--she'll stop you even now!"

He closed his eyes. "I don't deserve May. She deserves better than an addict. That's why I had to turn her down, all those years ago. She can do better. She needs better, and I'm practically killing myself to become that for her."

The pieces were starting to fit. Drew continued explaining,

"After I had to break her heart like that, I promised myself I would break this habit. And I did for the longest time, until I saw her again. She seemed so happy without me, so I turned back to…forgetting. Which is why I was out last night."

He looked at me, and his eyes weren't the same snappy, cocky ones that I was so accustomed to.

"And now I'm back here, trying to forget about what I did to you. Can you ever forgive me? It doesn't have to be now, it doesn't have to be soon…but one day?" His eyes bore into mine beseechingly.

I wanted to say yes--really and truly. He was too intoxicated to come up with a lie, but sober enough to know what he was talking about. I guess he was such a drunk that he built up a high tolerance for alcohol.

Drew banged his head against the bar and didn't bother to lift it back up. "I don't deserve May, I don't deserve May, I don't deserve May…" he mumbled pessimistically.

"Hey, Drew, don't think like that. May cares a lot about you, more than you know. She could help you, if only you let her in."

"Do you really think so?" he whimpered. I was really, really disturbed by this sniveling Drew. He should never drink again. It turned him into a completely different person.

"Yes, Drew," I insisted. "But you can't ever hurt her. She cares about you way more than she should, and if you do anything stupid, it'll break her apart."

"I wouldn't ever. I _love_ her!"

I squinted at him suspiciously and demanded, "How am I supposed to be believe you? You've had at least three drink!"

Drew rolled his eyes. Now that was more like him. "I told you before: that was hardly anything—especially if you've been drinking since you were a kid."

Something about his reply struck me as odd. "Wait…how are you still alive if you've been drinking for that long, when you were so young? You should be dead of alcohol poisoning or something!"

"Hey! It's not like I've been drinking nonstop since for seven years. I took a long break in between." He said defensively. "And it's only times like these, when everything sucks, that I ever have a relapse. But I'm doing better, don't you think?" He asked hopefully. "I've had much less today. Do you think now I can be with May?"

I believed him. For the past twenty minutes, all we've been talking about is May. This guy is hopelessly, head-over-heels in love...and I never thought it would be possible with someone as self-centered as Drew. But I still came to see him for a reason.

"Fine. You are welcome to try and romanticize May all you want. But," I lowered my voice threateningly as I got up in his face and tried not to suffocate from his stench, "if you ever hurt her—whether you're drunk like this or whether you're as sober as a priest—me and/or Zoey will find you. You'll be hurting so bad, not even a hundred-year-old wine bottle will make you forget your pain."

I remembered what Zoey said before to Gary and repeated as I was walking out of the bar, "Look, pretty boy, hurt her like you did before and next time you look in a mirror you're face will be so messed up it will be like looking at a Feebas. Got it?" I stepped outside without waiting for a response. It didn't matter what he actually wanted to say, because the only thing I wanted to hear was a "yes."

I breathed in deeply, letting the cool evening air rush through my nose and mouth. It smelled clean and sweet, much better than the smoky air I'd been inhaling for the past half-hour.

My Poketch jingled. Zoey's and Gary's faces popped up on the screen, both wearing mixed expressions of severe worry and extreme irritation.

"Where are you?" Zoey shouted at me as quietly as possible. "It's almost night now! Something could happen again! You leave in a snap second, and then I get a call from Gary saying that you're after Drew? After everything he did to you?"

Gary added heatedly, "You're coming back here within ten minutes, and when you do, you better have a decent explanation ready!"

"I'm fine, you guys. I'll be back in ten minutes, and I do have a decent explanation ready. Geez, you're like my parents!"

Zoey hissed, "Maybe if you weren't so irresponsible—"

Judging from their hushed tones, May was still around and they were still trying to hide the truth from her. I heard her innocently sweet voice inquire over the Poketch,

"What are you guys doing all huddled up like that?"

"Oh, Zoey was just showing me this awesome new app that helps you find wild Pokemon," Gary lied smoothly before discreetly hanging up on me.

I headed back to my apartment as fast as I could, because the sun was setting. I thought wryly as I watched the brilliant sun slowly dip from sight, _So, Drew's a drunk, and Gary's a lying jerk. Looks like May and I are walking straight into the arms of some messed-up men…and it seems like we're both doing it willingly._

* * *

**A/N: **Holy fizzle! This is officially the longest chapter! I was actually going to cut it off where May says Gary's name to keep you in suspense, but it was already past my two week due date and I figured that if I was going to post it late, the chapter should at least be quality--and hopefully it was! Did y'all notice all the changes? I changed my name cause "kumquatmelody" didn't really have anything to do with writing. My name is supposed to read_ ban heartbreaking_ since I'm a romance writer, but someone already took the name "heartBreAkiNg" so I had to add the stupid x's--just ignore them. Whatever. And I think the title sounds more dramatic now, don't you? Before it was so bland. Plus, I changed the type of story, because even though there are some funny spots, it's not really turning out as funny as I'd originally thought it would be, and after this chapter, the story's much more of a drama. Hope my dear readers don't mind...

I decided to make today the official **Reviewers' Day**, because I got so many reviews for last chapter!! Over twenty...yay =) YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

And love also goes to all the lovely people who add me to their alerts and favorites =)

Thanks guys, and I hope this chapter wasn't too dark. This will be the darkest one, I swear! Only two more guys left for Dawn...how do _you_ think this will go down?

P.S. I'm sorry that I'm updating so slowly. I wrote a six thousand word story for school, I have to write an analytical paper on the book I'm reading, and my term paper is coming up. Just thought I'd explain my slowness to you. 3


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Flashbacks all reveal times in Gary's and Dawn's first relationship.

* * *

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON POV-*-*-**

They stared at her, their mouths hanging wide open. Their eyes popped out disbelievingly. They scratched their ears, as if they were unsure of what they had just heard. Their slack-jawed, bug-eyed, dubious expressions made Dawn want to laugh out loud. She had just recounted to them the past couple of days' events. She left out the parts that included Drew, and decided to tell Zoey and Gary (only because he'd force her to) what happened in the bar between her and Drew.

"What," she teased, "don't you believe me? Wasn't that a fabulous story?"

Gary asked slowly, "Wait…so was it a true story or wasn't it?"

As Dawn attempted to answer his question, she found she still couldn't directly meet his eye. Instead she looked down and said, "Maybe, maybe not. Uh, how about I go make some popcorn?" and she rushed from the room.

The three others were left sitting in Dawn's TV room, breathing in the awkwardness. Zoey had noticed that Dawn had avoided looking at Gary, and if she was forced to she either focused her eyes on his shoe or on the wall next to his face. Zoey knew exactly why, but she wasn't really sure how to help the situation. Dawn was clearly uncomfortable and she didn't want Gary around, but he obstinately refused to leave. Dawn was too polite and unsure of herself around boys right now to kick him out, so May and Zoey were seriously considering doing it themselves. However, there was no way they could take on someone who was older, faster, and more muscle-y than they were. Maybe May's Blaziken could help, but the rest of their Pokemon were more suited for contests than full-on battling and there was no way they could beat him if Ash still had a hard time beating him.

So Zoey was left to sit there and mull over what to do. Could it be possible that Dawn needed Gary here? She had to get over her little boy-fear somehow, and Zoey could think of no better way to do it.

She regretted ever making the stupid bet. If she hadn't, Dawn wouldn't have been running around from guy to guy, and May never would've gotten jealous and entered in that contest, and Drew wouldn't have come to Hearthome and hurt Dawn, and Gary would still be far, far away. She buried her face in her hands in frustration. _Love isn't a game_, she realized. _It's not something to be played with, to bet on._

"Are you okay?" a quiet voice asked as a gentle hand touched her shoulder.

Zoey looked up to meet dark brown eyes--Gary's eyes. She shook off his touch. "I'm fine. I was just thinking to myself."

Just then, a shriek resounded from the kitchen. They all started towards Dawn's cry for help, but Zoey glared at them until they shrank back. Well, May backed off, but Gary stood his ground and said calmly,

"It's okay, Zo, you can sit back and relax. I'll help Dawn with whatever she needs."

"_Don't_ call me Zo. And in case you haven't noticed, Dawn doesn't exactly want you near her anyway."

The words clearly stung him, but Zoey steeled her heart and conscience against his pained eyes. _This is for Dawn_, she told herself. She swiveled on her heel and hurried away, calling out to Dawn, asking if she was alright.

May sat back down on the couch, and gradually Gary made his way back to his seat on the other side. She faced him and asked unsurely, "Why are you here?"

Gary sighed and ran a hand through his hair, spiking it even more. "To help Dawn, of course." Despite his upset face, his tone was still as confident and as sure of himself than ever.

"But that's not why you were here in Hearthome to begin with," May argued.

Gary busied himself with trying to comb his hair down. He only answered when May pointedly cleared her throat.

"I just…I wanted to apologize for…leaving things off like I did."

"It's not like you cared before." May shook her head sadly. She viewed the situation differently than Zoey. She didn't want to see Dawn get hurt by Gary again, but she could easily see how good Gary could be for Dawn, and how happy he made her. Maybe if those two started dating, and she and Drew started then the four of them plus Zoey and Kenny could all go on triple dates. May was dragged out of her picturesque fantasy when she heard Gary's voice say ashamedly,

"You're sort of right. But ever since she had the big group party after she got her fifth ribbon…I feel like…like I need her again." Gary finished lamely. He didn't know how to say what he felt. Other girls were easier: all he had to do was wink at them and he had them in his complete control. Even the old Dawn was won by a simple, corny poem. Now, though, it was practically impossible to get her to even look at him.

"Like you needed her?" The unusually scornful May said. "She's not a toy that's exchangeable and expendable. You either love her or you don't, and there's no coming back to change your mind over and over."

Gary's face twisted unhappily. "I didn't mean it like that. I do like her."

May's gaze softened marginally. "And you don't love her?"

Gary shook his head, a little unsurely, and May was relieved. "At least you're not lying to her again."

He was about to protest, but the popping sounds in the kitchen stopped and the fragrant buttery smell of fresh popcorn wafted into the room, soon followed by a giggling Zoey and Dawn. May felt slightly left out for a second, but she was still glad she got to talk to Gary about Dawn. She wanted to prove she cared about her friends as strongly as Zoey did.

Dawn pushed a movie into the DVD player so she wouldn't have to talk anymore. They gobbled all the popcorn up within five minutes and were left to watch the rest of the movie with full, aching stomachs.

When it ended, Zoey got up to pee, having held it all in so she wouldn't miss a moment. May volunteered to wash the popcorn bowl and Dawn was left to show Gary to the door.

"It was nice having you here," Dawn told the wall next to Gary's head as she held the front door open for him.

Gary chuckled, "It's so easy to tell when you're lying. You hated having me here!"

"I didn't hate it," she admitted reluctantly. "But I didn't like it so much either."

Gary sighed again, but this time it was barely audible. The only way Dawn could tell that he sighed was because he was suddenly only a few inches away from her. She couldn't breathe--partly because of his cologne, partly because her heart heart was beating so fast, and mostly because she was afraid he would hurt her. Gently and slowly, Gary pulled Dawn's chin so that she would look straight into his eyes. They were silent as their eyes bore into each others', their hearts beating rapidly, their palms sweating profusely, their breaths slipping noisily between their lips.

"You're going to learn to trust me, Dawn," he promised.

"I don't know," she whispered, unable to turn her head out of Gary's strong grip.

"You will," he said. Then he let her go and slipped out the door. Her friends saw her standing there alone, the door sliding shut ever-so-slowly.

"Are you okay?" They demanded. "Did that jerk do anything?"

Dawn shook her head. "I think he's going to be here for a while."

None of them were exactly sure if they should jump for joy, or scream in frustration.

**-*-*-DAWN'S POV-*-*-**

He stayed true to his word. Every day, in the afternoon, he would knock on my door and come in even if we turned him down. Drat him for remembering where I keep my key!

**----flashback to when we were thirteen----**

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Gary picked up his phone on the fourth ring and wearily asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Dawn! I need your help!"

"Dawn, it's almost midnight and you should be in bed. What could possibly be wrong?" he yawned.

"I…may have slipped out of my bathtub and onto the floor…and my ankle really hurts now!" I added in a whine.

"What?! Why are you calling me?? I'm all the way in Sandgem, with Professor Birch and Lucas. I can't help you!" He sounded scared.

"But…I didn't want Ash to know how stupid I've been, and Zoey's even further away in Snowpoint, and you're my only friend left still in Sinnoh. Pleeeease, pleeeease help me, Gary!"

"Alright. I'll just fly there as fast as I can. How am I gonna get in though?"

"I keep the spare key hidden behind the emergency exit sign. Hurry!"

"I am, don't you worry a bit. I'll be there in fifteen minutes and I'll take extra care of you."

I was so relieved that I said, "You're the bestest boyfriend ever."

I heard him laugh before he hung up.

**----flashback ends----**

Even back then, he was so caring. He couldn't resist a Pokemon in need, and I guess the same rules apply to humans, too. We had gone shopping yesterday, and he carried all my shopping bags for me. It was impossible to believe he was being so kind after bring such a butthole before. Just then, I heard him knock on the door.

"Coming!"

"Too late," he grinned as he materialized right next to me and winked.

I frowned at him. "Why bother knocking if you're just gonna let yourself in anyway?"

"I'm a gentleman. I hold open doors for moms with strollers, I help little old ladies cross the street, and I knock before breaking and entering."

I laughed. That was the first time I had laughed with him around. Usually, I tried to drown out his voice by focusing on my friends instead, but today Zoey said she needed to practice her appeals since the Festival was drawing nearer and I, being one of the enemy, was not allowed to see her prized, secretive contest moves. May had gone with her, probably leaving on purpose so I would be forced to be left alone with him. Stupid, good-for-nothing friends. Why couldn't it be nailed through their thick heads that I was never just gonna hand myself over to a man ever again?

"Guess what we're going to be doing today!" Gary said excitedly. He had his hands hidden behind his back and a mischevious grin playing at the corners of his lips.

"I'm a little scared to find out," I said uncertainly. I could talk to Gary now, but I did not want him touching me.

"Rollerblading!" he shouted gleefully. "This is so exciting!"

"You're a freak." I stared dubiously at the two pairs of shiny, brand-spanking new skates that dangled from his hands. "Where'd you find those? Did you steal them?"

"No," he scoffed, "I bought them myself."

Typical Gary--spending money on stupid things to make him look good. He handed me the neon pink blades, keeping the black-and-silver to himself. I couldn't help smile a little…he knew me so well. He reached down to tie up the laces for me, but I withdrew. His face flashed with a bit of emotion at first, but it was soon gone and he shrugged indifferently. "Suit yourself, but I'm warning you, it's a hard process," he told me.

In the end, it took me about five minutes to lace up the rollerblades and to tie them tightly enough. Gary stood there patiently after lacing his own in about a minute, hiding a smirk. I rolled my eyes at him when I finally finished, and he bladed right out my front door into the elevator. I followed as gracefully as I could, stumbling just once when I initially stood up.

"Where are we skating?" I questioned.

"Oh, just around Hearthome." He tightened the backpack on his shoulders slightly, as I grew more and more suspicious.

We rolled out the door, laughing at the expression on the doorman's face. Turns out we really were just rolling around the street, avoiding strollers, little kids chasing balls, and stray Pokemon prowling around. Once, a basketball bounced right in front of me, tripping me. Just as my face was about to eat some cement cakes, Gary grabbed me around my waist. He had kept me from seriously hurting myself, but he was too late in catching me so I ended up on the ground. He still had his arms around my waist, and he had leaned in so close as I was falling that our noses were brushing. His dark eyes bore intensely into mine. I was so uncomfortable, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from his; it was like his soul was mixing into mine. He set me gently down on the ground then leaned up and offered me his hand. As I simply stared at it, he said,

"Well, there's no way you can get up by yourself in those slippery roller blades."

I grumbled to myself, but in the end I grabbed his cool, calloused hand and he pulled me swiftly back onto my feet. "You okay?"

I just nodded. He wasn't letting go of my hand. My fingers squirmed underneath his unrelenting grip, giving up after he said, half- serious, half-teasing,

"I better keep holding on, just to make sure you don't mess up again. Plus," he added with a cocky wink, "I know you love holding my hand."

I grimaced, but to be honest, his hand was nothing like Drew's. His had been sticky with whatever drinks he had been drinking, and they were invading and greedy. Gary's hand was welcoming and familiar, like stepping into your own home after a long vacation.

**----flashback----**

I was so incredibly nervous. It was time for my very first date with Gary--with any boy, actually. He had asked me when I was back in my hometown, and he was nearby in Sandgem with Rowan. None of my friends were not around to help me get ready, so my hands shook as I fastened my hairclips. I jumped about a half-foot in the air when I heard the doorbell ring, precisely at 5 o'clock.

"Coming!" I cringed as I heard my voice crack. Nervous? I'm never nervous! I am Dawn, coordinating extraordinaire! I was one of the best in Sinnoh for my age. I was confident and completely adjusted to attention and spotlight. I deserved the best, I told myself, not overly convinced as I headed towards the door.

When I opened it, Gary stepped in and planted a quick, light kiss on my cheek and handed me a carnation that wasn't nearly as pink as I was turning.

"You're so pretty, you know that? The most beautiful girl in Sinnoh. Damn. I'm really lucky."

I giggled, and joked, "Oh, yeah, you are." But I scrutinized him. "Prettier than even Cynthia?" I asked, daring him to give the right answer.

"Eh. Cynthia's looks are overrated, if you ask me. You're much more unique and way more beautiful."

"You're the best," I squealed as I threw my arms around him. I heard him chuckle quietly as he pried my arms off of him.

**----flashback ends----**

Gary always made me comfortable, and I was always happy to be around him. Now, that I think about it, we went rollerblading that day too, and it was so much fun. Too bad it's so hard for me to trust him…I sighed.

"What?" he inquired.

I slowed down as I skated and said slowly, "How am I supposed to…do this?"

"What, skate?" he replied, but judging by the unhappy look that crossed his face, I could tell he understood me perfectly.

I slowed to a stop and slipped my hand out from his. "You know what I mean. I--I gotta go."

I made a U-turn on my skates and strted to skate rapidly away from him.

"Dawn, wait! Where are you going? I was gonna take you on a picnic!"

I didn't stop. I heard him gaining on me, and I heard his skates grind against the rough pavement.

"Dawn, just hold on for a second!" We were both skating so fast that he couldn't reach out and grab me, or else we would both end up toppling. "Please," he said so quietly that I almost didn't catch it.

I stopped suddenly, catching myself before I faceplanted. Gary, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He ended up biting some dust. He rolled over on his back and looked up at me with imploring eyes.

"Don't give me that face, Gary Oak," I told him sternly. "It doesn't work on me anymore."

"Wanna bet?" he challenged confidently. But I stood my ground and he cursed, "Damn. It works on every girl!"

"Not on me. Never again on me."

"Dawn!" he pleaded as he got up and knelt. "I'm down on my knees! You know I'd never do anything to hurt you. Again," he added as an afterthought.

"It happened once, it can happen again," I shook my head. I turned to skate away, but he scrambled up and grabbed my arm.

"Why?" he asked sadly.

"You are someone I never plan on trusting. And after…the o-other night," I choked out the words, "I get how dangerous it can be to trust any guy at all."

Gary looked me squarely in the eyes and whispered, "You can trust me. I saw what happened to you. I could never hurt you after watching that."

I watched his eyes, and as far as I could tell, he wasn't lying to me. "Do you promise? Do you swear?"

"More than you could know."

I didn't answer him in words. I just threw my arms around him. I gave myself in to Gary Oak, and now I didn't know how safe I would be. He brought my chin up, forcing my face out of his chest and pointing steadily towards his. He bent down and kissed me on the lips. It brought back memories...

**----flashback----**

My heart hammered against my ribcage, probably trying to break through so that it could grab Gary and kiss him itself. I trembled, but waited patiently for him to close the distance and press his lips against mine.

I had never been kissed before and therefore had nothing to compare with, but this kiss seemed unbelievably, beautifully perfect. I felt my eyes slide shut, and suddenly understood why people in movies always made out with their eyes closed. It gave the kiss a whole new sense of reality. It blocked out everything but Gary: all I could smell was him, all I could hear was my heart pounding and his uneven breathing, all I could feel was his soft lips gently pressing against mine.

It was the best first kiss any girl dream of.

**----flashback ends----**

"Gary!" I called as I skipped into my TV room, three days after our kiss. He was--yet again--plopped on my couch with my two best girlfriends, who were--yet again--plopped on my couch as they all--yet again--ate my food and played Go Magikarp.

"Got any twos?" May asked through a mouthful of potato chips.

"Go Magikarp," Gary replied from his position sprawled on my couch, his head lolling over the edge and his limbs extending past both ends. He looked up at me and grinned. "What's up?"

I mock-frowned at the three of them. "Why are you always here?"

"Well, you invited_ us_," Zo said defensively, indicating herself and May. "And Gary just let himself in."

"We thought it would be funny if you got out of the shower and found me here. But you take awfully long showers," he complained.

"Oh, well, anyway!" I said bubbly. "It's good that you're all here! I had the greatest idea while I was in the shower!"

"What, did you come up with a new way of shampooing your precious hair?"

I threw a couch pillow at him and snapped, "Stop interrupting!" Then I remembered my idea and continued brightly, "Anyhoo, back to my idea! I was thinking that the six of us could go on a triple date!"

"You thought of this in the shower?" Gary asked incredulously, but we girls had better things to do then pay attention to him.

"But wait, that all works out well for you and Gary and Zo and Kenny…but I don't see how I'm gonna fit into the picture." I couldn't read May's expression clearly, but she looked hurt and sad and confused and regretful and a hundred other feelings.

"No, silly! You have Drew, of course!"

May froze at the sound of his name, a scowl formed on Gary's mouth, and Zoey just sat there, calmly sneaking cards out of the deck and into her own hand as May and Gary launched dozens of questions at me.

"What?"

"Why?"

"When?"

"Where?"

"Do you realize what you're doing?"

"But…why?"

"What are you hiding from me?"

"…Why?..."

"What, are you crazy?"

"GOSH DARNIT, DAWN, TELL ME WHY!"

I wanted to laugh at May's reaction (only Drew could ever get such a violent reaction from her), but the pained look of pure confusion set into her face stopped me. I remembered that she didn't know the truth about Drew, and that they were both in love with each other. So I gave her a brief, (extremely) censored version of what happened. "Well, I, uh, sort of ran into Drew the other day."

"And you didn't tell me?" she asked, hurt.

I hurried past that little detail and said, "And I had a good talk with him and he said…You wanna guess what he said??"

"He thought his hair looked especially gorgeous that day?" May joked feebly.

"No! He LIKES you!" I squealed. "So now we're all gonna have some fun, because the past couple of days have been way too crazy. I need a break, and I need to have some good ol' teenage fun."

Gary jumped off the couch and put his arm around me protectively. He said low in my ear, "Fine, I'll go along with your little date plan, but I'm not taking my eyes off Drew." He said in a louder tone so my friends could hear as well, "I'm game for this. How about you guys?"

"Why not?" Zoey shrugged. May looked more hesitant, but she wouldn't be for long.

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON POV-*-*-**

The three girls had gotten ready in Dawn's apartment, giggling and applying makeup in front of Dawn's giant bathroom mirror. It stretched from floor to ceiling, and practically took up one whole wall. Gary liked to joke it was his favorite room, because he could see himself so clearly and so completely—even while he was peeing in her toilet, much to Dawn's disgust. None of the girls liked to wear makeup much, not even girly Dawn, because they were believers of natural beauty (well, Zoey was, but Dawn and May just didn't like the heavy, clogging feeling it gave their pores), but they wore a little, because tonight was special. Dawn had on a signature pink skirt, matching it with a fancy black silk top and silver accessories and silver high heels, while May wore red skinny jeans and a ruffly white button-down. Even Zoey dressed up a little more than usual, exchanging her blue capris for black slacks and her bright orange vest for a black leather jacket. She refused to remove her combat boots, and it took her friends at least five whole minutes not to tuck her pants into the boots.

"So are we all ready, you guys?" Dawn called cheerfully as she grabbed her purse and started heading out the door.

"If I have to be," Zoey grumbled as she trailed behind Dawn. "I don't know why you insisted on all this crap—Kenny thinks my outfit's already cool enough."

Dawn ignored that, and waited for May to reply. When she heard none, she whirled back and found May staring at herself in the bathroom mirror. She turned to her friends and asked timidly,

"You think I look okay for the date, guys?"

Her friends vehemently assured her that she was gorgeous, and if Drew didn't see that then he was not worth it, and all the typical stuff friends were born to say.

But in all honesty, May did look beautiful. Although her face was pale with anxiety, the lack of color in her face enhanced the color in her eyes, making them seem more lumious and more sparklingly blue. Her lashes were lengthened with a stroke of mascara, and her lips tinted with a dab of lip gloss.

May steadied her nerves with a good breath. This was Drew, after all. She couldn't ever be nervous around him--she had to appear composed and perfect to prove that she was just as good as her rival. "I'm ready!" she said with a smile as bright as her red pants.

Dawn's landline rang. The receptionist was calling an informing her that she had three male guests waiting in the lobby.

"Well, it was nice of them not to come barging in like they always do," Dawn mused. The girls rode the elevator down, taking with them an air of excitement tinged with anxiety.

The elevator door slid open, and it was almost a scene out of a movie. The three girls walked side-by-side to meet their dates, who blatantly stared at their girls.

"Close your mouths, boys," Dawn winked.

Gary laughed and smoothly slipped an arm around her waist. "That's my girl!" he said proudly.

Kenny smiled at his girlfriend and gave her a shy hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. Drew, who had shut his mouth as soon as May brought her gaze to meet his, smirked as he told her,

"Well, I guess you don't look hideous."

"Right back at ya, Lettuce Face," she shot back. She looked ready to lunge at his throat, but he chuckled and tossed a rose into her unsuspecting hands.

"Children, children," Gary chided. "Enough of your foolishness!" He then dropped his snobby tone and continued obnoxiously, "IT'S TIME TO PARTY!"

They cheered and left Dawn's building as the doorman shook his head and mumbled,

"Oh, young love."

The six friends got piled into Zoey's car (Dawn wasn't old enough to drive, Gary's, May's, and Drew's cars were all in other regions, and Kenny always got a ride from his girlfriend). Zoey owned a four-seater, however, so Zoey and Kenny sat in front looking deceptively legal while May and Dawn sat on their respective's dates laps. Dawn was having the time of her life making fun of Gary and joking around with him, but May was blushing so hard she was a shade of red that  
would've made a Cherubi proud.

"You fools better buckle up!" Zoey shouted over her shoulder.

The boys obeyed, and Dawn clung to Gary's neck in substitute. May flatout refused.

"What if we get in a car crash? You would rather die than hug me, May?"

May tossed her hair back haughtily, "That's exactly what I plan on doing."

"Ouch," Kenny crowed gleefully from the frog seat.

"Shut up!" Drew snapped. He slipped his arms around May's waist instead and held onto her as she protested. "Give it up, I'm not going to let you die," he whispered in her ear. May shivered at the close contact of his lips, and he smirked where she couldn't see.

Kenny directed their driver to the restaurant the boys had picked out especially for tonight. Well, Kenny really picked it, seeing how the other two knew squat about Hearthome. When Zoey pulled up, she said in amazement,

"Wow, Dawn, how come you never took us here?" She gaped at the luxurious building, overly decorated with delicate sculptures and fancy ironwork and bloomig flowers.

"I may be a top coordinator, but I'm not_ that_ rich," she retorted.

Zoey turned on her boyfriend and asked dubiously, "How are you ever gonna afford this?"

Kenny grinned devilishly. "Treat's on Gary."

Gary rolled his eyes and got out of the car, holding open the door as Dawn crawled out. She teetered in her high heels, but he grabbed her elbow and steadied her.

"Geez, Dawn, I know I look amazing in this kind of lighting, but there's no reason to fall that hard for me."

Drew did the same for May, except she tumbled out of the tiny car and sprawled on the pavement. Drew grinned then sighed, offering his hand. May groaned before seizing it and hauling herself up. "Thanks," she said reluctantly.

Zoey and Kenny looked at their stupid friends and just shook their heads. They headed inside, beckoning for their friends to follow.

"Table for six, please."

Their hostess nodded and led them to long, fancy-embroidered-tablecloth-covered table and placed a stack of menus on it before bidding them a good evening.

"I made sure that we didn't go back to that restaurant with the clingy waiters," Drew informed them, and Dawn and Zoey smiled at the hidden meaning as May blushed again. Dawn felt her heart speed up in fear each time Drew looked her way, but Gary was right beside her to squeeze her hand. He helped make her strong. She found that she felt less and less afraid of Drew with Gary's help.

Truth was, Drew was as nervous for this date as May had been, but he didn't let it show to anyone, not even when he was alone with the guys. He wanted so badly to please her, and he had wanted a bottle of wine so badly to calm his nerves, but each time he thought of what May would think if she found out his secret, he felt desperately morose. The feeling made him determined not to drink anything, not even the tiniest sip of that delicious aged wine he had kept in his luggage.

The dinner table was made a tad awkward by Gary's cold treatment of Drew, and by the fact that Dawn couldn't quite yet look him in the eyes. She was trying, for May's sake and did a much better job of civility than Gary did.

They all ordered their luscious dinners of hearty food, piling up a bill that didn't even faze Gary as he signed his signature and handed over his credit card.

"Rich boy," Dawn teased, tousling his hair playfully.

Gary ducked out from under Dawn's hand and said, "Rich, good-looking, smart…you're a lucky girl, aren't you?"

"Ugh, what happened to the Gary that was so nice to me before?"

He leaned in real close, murmuring only for her to hear, "He's right here. And I'll always be right here."

Dawn smiled in response and gave him a tender kiss.

**----flashback----**

"Why can't you be nicer to Ash?" Dawn scolded one day after the two of them had parted from the previously mentioned.

"What? I'm plenty nice! I've improved!" Gary defended himself indignantly.

"Yeah, but you could try harder!"

Gary sighed and said, "Would it make you happy if I did?"

Dawn beamed at him, "Yup, yup, yup!"

"Fine, then," he said, resigned.

"Oh, Gary, you're the best of the best!" she said as she tackled him into a hug. Caught off guard, Gary stumbled backwards a bit before composing himself and wrapping his arms around her waist. Smiling, he buried his face in her hair and breathed in her fresh scent.

"All for you," he told her sweetly. He kissed the top of her head and listened to her sigh with content in his arms. They were so happy, and they thought this bubbly feeling would last forever and ever.

**----flashback ends----**

The rest of the table avoided looking at the happy couple until May broke the awkward silence with a loud, long burp. The rest of the table erupted with laughter except for Drew, who could only shake his head and admonish,

"When are you going to learn some manners, May?"

"Hey!" she glared. "That giant bowl of pasta was very filling!"

"Like that's an excuse."

May's face turned dark with anger. "What's that supposed to mean? Who do you think you are, Mr. Perfect? What--"

Zoey, used to May's temper, cut in to avoid a full-on war. "So, uh, me and Kenny are going for a walk. We'll see you guys later, and thanks for the awesome dinner, Gary!" She practically dragged her boyfriend out of his chair and through the door as he waved goodbye to his friends and protested mildly at his girlfriend's violent grip.

The other two couples went their seperate ways, taking relaxing walks through Hearthome as the moon stretched high above their heads, reaching out his arms to play among the stars.

"Drew?" May said, unsure of herself, as they parted from Gary and Dawn.

He looked down at her shy face and replied, "Yeah?"

"I'm...I'm glad we went on this date."

If May could see Drew's face, she would've seen how happy that made him. She would've seen the way his eyes lit up when he smiled and the way his lips gracefully curved into a genuine grin. But it was night now, and all she could see were the shadows cast upon his face, and all she could hear was his lack of reply. She sighed inwardly; she knew she shouldn't have said anything, but now it was too late to take back her words. He said, halting over his words,

"I-I'm glad you liked our d-date."

May looked straight at him in surprise. Did Drew stutter? The Drew she knew and (deeply, deeply, deeply) loved never stuttered--or even close to it!

"Did you just--stutter?!" she cried disbelievingly.

Drew looked away embarrassedly. "I can't help it. You make me nervous."

_If you're just nervous, then I'm so nervous I'm having a heart attack_, May thought as she stared at Drew. _He has such perfect hair, and perfect eyes, and a perfect face…_

May cleared her throat. "Uh, why do you say that?"

Drew still refused to meet her eyes. He was acting so out of character! Why was he being so shy, and quiet, and nice, and so unDrewish?

"You can trust me, you know," May murmurred. She had a tiny hope that maybe Drew cared about her even just a fraction of what she felt for him, but hundreds of other doubts were running through her mind. Maybe he was just nervous that she would tell him his hair wasn't perfect-looking, or maybe he was nervous she would ask him on another date and he didn't want to have to say no.

"I know that." Drew smiled. "I'm nervous because you are so beautiful and because you can do so much better and I know you know that."

"What?" May gasped. "That's so not true!"

Drew grinned again, but this time it was a mixed expression of sarcasm and pain.

"Don't look like that," she said as she touched the side of his face. "I l-like you. A lot." She stumbled as she was talking, almost saying "love" instead of "like" and she didn't want to move so fast.

"Do you really?" Drew looked at her hopefully.

May smiled. "Duh! But I thought it you were the one who didn't like me," she added reproachfully.

Drew regretted that. How many years ago had she asked him on that date--two, three years? She still liked as much as she did all those years ago. _And she shouldn't_, he thought. But Drew was selfish. He couldn't just let May go; he needed her. _But she deserves the truth about my…problems_, he convinced himself.

"I like you now as much as I did then," he informed her. "but I had a reason for acting like that before."

Drew recounted his entire screwed-up story, starting from his lonely childhood and not stopping until he had reached the part about Dawn. Then his voice broke. He had managed to keep it strong and stoic up until now. But it just made him so sick and angry that he had done something so despicable to a girl--to a friend! Even now, after she had forgiven him, she seemed unsure of going near him. He wished he could punch himself in the face. May, who started out listening  
confused and grew more and more understanding, felt her heartbreaking right along with his. She didnt judge him for what he had done in the past, and she was proud of how he was trying so hard to change. In fact, she loved him more for it; after being told Drew's biggest, darkest secret, she now felt they could trust each other with their own souls.

May wrapped her arms around him comfortingly and compassionately. There, enveloped by May's warmth and love, he managed to compose himself. He never felt so blissfully happy and complete as he did then. He held May in one arm and brought the other to cradle his face as he kissed her with gratitude and love. _This__ is better than alcohol,_ he decided.

Far away, on the other side of town where Dawn's apartment was, Gary and the apartment-owner herself were sitting in a dark corner right outside the building, counting the stars and just talking.

"Look, that one's Orion," Dawn pointed at the sky.

"You know, he was an arrogant jerk who got shot by a feminist huntress," Gary said, like the know-it-all he was. Dawn smiled faintly as Gary wrapped an arm around her. She leaned into him, sighing contently as she teased him,

"Hmmm, arrogant jerk--where have we heard that before?"

"I haven't the faintest idea."

She laughed. They were quiet again, taking in the beauty of the dark, mysterious night world around them. Personally, Dawn didn't enjoy the dark. It reminded her of some bad times.

**----flashback----**

Dawn was curled up on her bed. She suddenly shot up screaming.

"It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream," she chanted. She reached over and grabbed her Poketch from the nightstand. She typed in Gary's number and smiled, knowingthat her comfort would soon appear on the screen.

After a few barely audible dial tones, Gary's voice answered.

Dawn cried, "Oh, Gary, I had the most awf--"

"Hi, it's me Gary. I'm busy right now, but try again later and you might have a shot at talking to me."

She sighed at the phone and put it away sadly. She curled up in the middle of the night again, fearing that another nightmare would soon take hold of her.

**----flashback ends----**

"That was a fun date, don't you think?" Dawn said to break the silence.

Gary shrugged. "Anything's fun with you. It was a little awkward, I guess, but fun."

"All dates are awkward."

Gary grinned. "None of mine ever are."

"Ugh," she smacked him--gently--on the side of his head. "Why can't you be my nice little slaveboy again?"

"Cause you already trust me," Gary said smugly. "Zoey didn't think you would, but I caught you with my dashing charm."

"And I'm still wondering why," Dawn shook her head. She was kidding, though. Gary was perfect, well, at least he was perfect enough for her.

Little did the content couple know that they were being watched.

"Ouch!" One brunette boy told his sheepish redheaded companion. "You stepped on me again!"

"Shush! I'm trying to listen!" the redhead whispered, but she planted a kiss on the boy's cheek anyway.

"Zo, we've been watching them and Drew and May for the past half hour. Can we please do something fun?"

"This is fun!"

"No, this is you being a stalker!"

"Well, what's your bright idea?!"

He shot her an innocent yet sly look. "You could give me another kiss."

She laughed and lightly punched his arm. "Not now, Kenny. We're on a mission to make sure our good friends are doing okay."

"Why couldn't it be Barry or Ash or Paul?" Kenny grumbled. "At least I know those guys. These people are practically strangers. The only way I knew them was through Dawn!"

"Please, please, please just shut up and do this for me?" Zoey begged.

Kenny assented and together they listened in.

"Remember that time when we were hanging out at the Sandgem Beach? And you caught a Magikarp thinking it was a Relicanth and you were sooo depressed? And my bathing suit got all ruined and so did my hair..." Dawn babbled on and on.

"Mmmhmm," Gary nodded absentmindedly, not really paying attention.

"Hey!" Dawn protested. " Why aren't you listening?"

"What? No! I am!"

Dawn pouted. "You do that a lot."

"Maybe because you talk too much?"

Kenny, after listening to all this, turned to Zoey and said, "Well, it doesn't really look like it's going so well with them."

Zoey looked worriedly at her friends. She wished that things were going as well with them as they had been with Drew and May. They had been spying on the other couple previously, and had watched them kiss and make-up and walk dreamily through the streets. Zoey was ecstatic for her brunette friend, and she hoped everything would be okay with Dawn.

Drew and May were doing absolutely fine. They were talking about coordinating as they walked hand-in-hand through Hearthome, completely oblivious to their surroundings.

"Yeah, and Roselia's Magical Leaf attack is getting really fast and really accurate," Drew said excitedly.

May smiled happily for him. "That's great! Are you going to enter the Sinnoh Grand Festival next year?"

"I think I am. Just 'cause it's the only one I haven't done. I wanna try out those seals." Drew looked up thoughtfully and noticed they were near his hotel. "Oh, this is where I'm staying. You wanna come chill up there with me?"

May felt uncertain at his meaning. In a guy's room, at night, all alone?

Drew laughed. "May, it's alright. You don't have to go." He frowned at something. "Um, I think I just gotta go do something up there for a sec. Will you be okay down here by yourself?"

"Sure," she nodded, trusting him, "but come back soon."

He kissed her again and assured, "I will." He raced up the stairs into his room and flung his luggage open. Aha! There it was--the finest wine in Kanto, bottled up and aged for fifty years. It was right in front of him, ready to be savored and enjoyed, but Drew had other plans. He popped it open and took a whiff of its musty smell. Then he walked purposefully towards the bathroom and dumped it--the entire bottle--into the toiled._ May is better for me than you could ever be_, he thought as he flushed it away. He tossed the bottle into a recycling bin with a feeling of pride and accomplishment.

When he got back down to May five minutes later, she asked what he did up there.

"Let's just say I think I'm ready for a new day," he said. It would take a while to get over this horrible addiction, but he had already taken his first step, and with May by his side, he was sure he could go all the way.

Meanwhile, things with Gary and Dawn weren't half as lovey-dovey. Dawn was still upset about the fact that Gary had zoned out while she was talking, and Gary was upset that Dawn was upset over something so insignificant.

_Why can't she realize that I do care for her a lot, even if I'm not yet in love?_ Gary thought frustratedly.

For Dawn, this argument brought back more bad memories.

**----flashback----**

Dawn paced agitatedly around Gary, who was sitting on the groun, bewildered.

"I tried calling you the other night, but you didn't pick up!"

"What? I don't remember getting a call. When did you call?" he asked confusedly.

"I don't know in the middle of the night. I had a really bad dream!"

Gary snorted. "In the middle of the night? No wonder I didn't know!" But seeing his anxious girlfriend melted away all his irritation. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. What was the nightmare about?"

Dawn blushed and mumbled sheepishly, "I don't--uh--exactly remember..."

He laughed in reply. "Okay, well now we're fine. It's all good, see?"

"But will you promise to listen to my nightmares next time?"

"Of course."

"Will you listen to everything I have to say?"

"You know I will! I love you and I care about what you have to say."

Dawn smiled at him, content. But three weeks later, they were back having a similar fight.

"I feel like we hardly ever talk anymore," Dawn said sadly.

"Don't say that!" Gary insisted, hating see Dawn hurt.

"But it's true." She turned her back to him and continued, "Whenever I call, you're busy. Whenever we try to hang out, something gets in the way."

Gary wrapped his arms around her and said, "We can both try harder! I want this to work out. I want us to work out."

Dawn just sighed in reply. She wasn't sure if they _could_ work out.

**----flashback ends----**

Dawn doubted that Gary remembered his promise, but he was still trying to make things up between them.

"I hate seeing you unhappy, Dawn. Come on, smile!"

She gave him a tiny smile in return, so with that small encouragement he plowed ahead.

"You know I care about you, right? I know a lot of cute girls, but without a doubt you're the best." He meant it as a compliment, and in his mind, it was. So many hot, slutty, near-naked girls threw themselves at him, but he dismissed them all and chose Dawn. Dawn, however, was not pleased with his choice of words.

**----flashback----**

They were sitting on a bench outside and ice cream shop in Sunyshore, on a date. This was after their arguments, and they went on this date to try and work things out and get some romance back into their relationship. So far it was working fabulously. Gary had taken her on a beach walk, they had picked out some seals for Dawn's next contest, and no they were enjoying some creamy ice cream. They were sitting there, staring into each other's eyes. Dawn noticed how cute he looked with the wind blowing up his thick brown hair, pushing it away from his face and revealing his dark brown eyes. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't the only one noticing her handsome boyfriend.

A gaggle of girls were oogling at Gary. They were pointing and whispering, obviously discussing the two of them. Dawn squirmed uncomfortably, and her date noticed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Okay, don't look now," she cautioned, "but those girls over there are totally giving me the stink eye for being with you."

Gary smirked. "What can I say, I'm an attractive guy."

"I'm so tired of everyone always flirting with you!"

"Don't worry, I'm never going to flirt back."

Dawn softened up at his words, but then stiffened again. "Well, we can test out your self-control: they're headed over here right now."

The girls, who were about their age, sauntered over. They were wearing way too much make-up, and their hair was so obviously highlighted. Dawn sneered in disgust, but they ignored her completely. The girl with the tightest, low-cut shirt leaned on the bench in a suggestive position and said,

"We noticed you're Gary Oak. You wanna come hang sometime?"

"Nah," he said taking Dawn's hand.

"Are you sure?" the girl pressed. "We could have so much...fun...together."

"Absolutely," he grinned at her elated expression and added, "not."

Dawn giggled, and they got up to leave when the girl suddenly grabbed him and pressed her whole body against his. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Gary, caught off guard, spluttered, "Uh, oh, well--"

"He's with me!" Dawn snapped. She hauled her boyfriend away from the group of girls and accused him, "What's wrong with you?! I saw you totally staring at her!"

"What did you expect? She threw herself at me--literally!" But then Gary remembered this was suppsoed to be fun for the two of them. "I don't have eyes for anyone but you, Dawn. Forgive me?"

Dawn brightened instantly. "No need to worry! I forgive you."

Gary sighed in relief.

**----flashback ends----**

"Yeah. I know you've met lots of cute girls. No need to remind me." Dawn said sulkily as she recalled the girl from Sunyshore.

Gary groaned. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know you didn't," Dawn sighed. "It's just that...sometimes I feel like maybe you'd be better off with one of the other cute girls."

"Wait," Gary said slowly. "What are you saying?"

**----flashback----**

They were back to arguing.

"I think it's time we broke up."

"Why?" Gary protested.

Dawn said, "Because! You're such a flirt, and you never talk to me."

Gary felt himself get angrier and angrier. Dawn had pushed him over the edge this time with her whiny complaints. "How do you think I feel? It's always my fault! Gary doesn't do this, Gary doesn't do that! Have you ever considered that maybe I get tired of watching guys throw themselves at you? No, you haven't! Have you ever thought that maybe I would like to get a word in while you rambled and rambled about clothes and shoes? No, _you haven't_! You know what, Dawn? I'm tired of being the one always apologizing. I'm tired of looking like the bad guy. Maybe you're right. Maybe it is over."

"Do you really feel that way?" Dawn had grown quiet and less angry during Gary's tirade, and grew more and more hurt. Gary was too livid to notice this and said shortly,

"Yeah. I do."

"Then I guess it really is over." She felt the tears slide down her cheeks, but Gary didn't notice that either. He had already walked away, stomping on her heart as he went.

**----flashback ends----**

"It's not like last time," she said quickly. "I just...think you could find a better girlfriend than me."

"But you're the best girlfriend out there!" Gary was perplexed. What could be wrong?

"I feel like...like yeah, you are a flirt. It doesn't bother me like the same way it used to, but I keep thinking, maybe you would be happier with a girl who could be just as flirty. I think, yeah you're so smart and you're an awesome trainer, and I'm just a coordinator." She looked up at him with teary eyes, and the sight made him want to tear up too. "Being with you is bringing back all my old doubts and insecurities. I want you to move on."

Gary shook her, as if trying to shake those bad thoughts out of her head. "What are you thinking? I don't want to move on! I'm perfectly happy with you!"

"But you're not in love, are you?" Dawn pointed out. "I want you to be in love. What we have...you're more or less taking care of me. And I'm so, so grateful, Gary! You know how much you've done for me. But you don't have to stick around anymore. You should go back to Kanto and find yourself a beautiful, genius, researcher-girl or something. You don't have to take care of me. You helped me through my little tough time, and now I'm through. You're free." Her words seemed her harsh, but her tone was gente and loving.

Gary finally understood what she was saying. Now, he was starting to see the truth in her words. "But I do care about you. I don't want to leave you here alone."

"I have my two best friends. I know they'll stay with me as long as I need them to."

"Dawn..." he trailed off. He was remembering his past several weeks in Sinnoh with her. She was so bubbly and cheerful that when he was with her, he felt like he was so full of energy that he could jump on the back of a raging Tauros and ride it all around Kanto. He could see the sense in her words though. He did want someone to talk to about his research and he couldn't stay in Sinnoh with Dawn forever because he needed to get back to the lab he ran with his grandfather. And she was right, he had helped her but now she was almost completely healed. It was like taking care of a newly-hatched baby Pokemon. He helped her find her way through some pretty tough times, but it was time to let her go her own way.

"Dawn," he tried again. "I do care about you and I want to be friends. As cliche as that sounds," he added with a slight grin.

"Of course we'll be friends, Gary. How could I not?"

Gary grinned his normal cocky grin and replied, "I ask myself that everyday. How come the whole world does not want to be my friend?"

Dawn giggled and hugged him. "You're so funny. You're going to make some other girl really happy."

He returned the hug, holding her there for a long time. He kissed her softly on the top of her head. "Thanks, Dawn. You've really grown up, you know? This breakup is so different. I hope you'll be happy, too."

Dawn sighed again, this time with peace stealing through her thoughts rather than pain. She leaned against Gary's chest for a moment, savoring his smell and warmth for what would probably be the last time. He would never hold her like this again. She took a deep breath and pulled away. "Goodbye, Gary." She placed one last kiss on his cheek before rounding the corner and vanishing from his sight.

"I'll see you soon." the words were whispered by both of them, but neither knew that the other had said it.

Their four friends, May, Zoey, Drew, and Kenny, had seen pretty much the entire thing. After the pitstop at Drew's hotel, they had run into Zoey and Kenny and headed back to Dawn's apartment together. They stopped and grew silent when they saw Gary and Dawn fighting. Gary was running an agitated hand threw his spikes, and Dawn was waving her hands and saying something to him. May headed towards them, but Drew and Zoey both grabbed her arms and held her back.

"Let them work it out," Zoey said quietly. They watched the fight slowly grow quieter. Dawn and Gary were now speaking earnestly to each other, and they both looked sad. Gary wrapped her in a tender hug, and neither moved for the longest time. Dawn was the first to pull away; they watched her walk away from him without a backwards glance.

"Where is she..." Kenny started, but he was quickly hushed. They saw Dawn lean against the entrance to her building, and slump to the ground, a few glistening tears sliding down her pale cheeks. Gary hadn't moved from his spot, but neither was he crying. Eventually, after staring at the ground, head bowed, for a good five minutes with his hands in his pockets, he left the alley the two of them had been sitting in and released his Aeordactyl and soared away. Dawn, after watching him fly into the starlit sky, gradually got up and made her way into the warm building.

"What was that all about?" Zoey wondered.

"It looked like...they broke up," May said, not quite comprehending.

Drew frowned. "It seemed awfully quiet and nice for a breakup."

"But she was crying," May pointed out.

"Maybe they were tears of joy," Drew argued.

"Oh, shut up."

Kenny snapped, "The both of you shut up! This is about our Dawn, crying, and all you two are doing is having a stupid fight!"

"Sorry," they both mumbled.

"Anyway," Kenny continued, "I agree with May. They definitely broke up. Didn't you see him fly away? He's probably headed back to Kanto."

"He could have said goodbye," May muttered.

Zoey, who had been mulling over the scene she had just witnessed and completely ignored their little disagreement, said, "That was so sad...but I think Dawn's really grown up. She even hugged Gary goodbye. The old Dawn would've stomped away with a pout...but this Dawn acted so mature."

The rest just realized this, but they agreed. It was without a doubt that Dawn had grown up. The Dawn who had made the silly little bet with Zoey a couple of months ago no longer existed. Something in that girl had changed. Maybe the bet wasn't such a bad thing, if it brought such a good person out of Dawn. But now Dawn was alone, and the main point of the bet was to avoid that. Would their sweet, vivacious, newly reformed Dawn ever find anyone who could make her happy?

* * *

**A/N: **Damn. A whole month to update...sorry guys! This chapter has to be the gooeyest, fluffiest, most filler-y chapter I have ever written. And it took me a month to get it out? Shame, I know. Feel free to yell at me. I hope the flashbacks didn't make things too confusing. Thanks for the reviews, guys, (over thirty!!) and keep reviewing! I'm trying to cut down on my author's notes, so I'm gonna say one last thing:

**I definitely will not be updating within the next two weeks.** I know I hardly ever do, but this time you can bet I won't. I'm writing an essay for this contest, and I invite you all to try it out. Google 'concern .net writing competition' and it should be the first result. Unfortunately, it's open only to people above 12. If you're older than that, then feel free! I'm pretty sure it's worldwide, but your entry has to be English. The coolest part is that you might have the chance to be published. Due date is March 21st, so I probably won't have time to write for FF until after that. I'm so sorry to leave the story like that, but I swear I'll be back ASAP. Meanwhile, contemplate what will happen next in my story...there's only one guy left...do you think Dawn will ned up with him? Or can you think of something else?

This chapter was inspired by "Already Gone" by Kelly Clarkson. I hope that each time you listen to it, you think of Dawn and Gary's heartbreaking love story.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Grand Festivals will have the same rules as the contests in the anime.

**-*-*-ONE MONTH LATER-*-*-**

…5…

The last swipe of lip gloss was applied.  
The last smudges of eyeshadow wiped off.  
The last straying strands sprayed down.

…4…

The last anxious glances in the mirror were stolen.  
The last friendly hand helped out.  
The last comb hastily brushed.

…3…

The last hand was squeezed.  
The last good-luck hug continued on.  
The last reassuring smiles exchanged.

…2…

The last rumbles of the audience were shushed.  
The last butterflies in the stomachs quieted down.  
The last thrumming heartbeat calmed.

…1…

The last deep breath was inhaled.  
The last swinging curtain pulled away.  
The first step into spotlight taken...

It was like this for Dawn before every Grand Festival. They were harder than normal contests because so many more people entered the Festival than a normal contest. So they completely got rid of entrances and dance routines and jumped straight to appeals and finished off with contest battles. Even though she had already won two of the four Festivals she'd been in, she still got nervous. Yet again, she was thrown against Zoey and Kenny, her two biggest rivals. She was just glad that Drew and May weren't entered; she would have had even  
less of a chance at winning. But at this moment, Dawn wasn't thinking of the probability of her win. She was completely focused on the task at hand: the appeal round.

"Spotlight, Cyndaquil!" Dawn cried out enthusiastically. The seals on its PokeBall allowed for optimum grand entrance: Cyndaquil gracefully leaped out of its ball and practically flew through the air, surrounded by hearts all the way. It landed with a happy cry of "Quil!" before posing at the feet of its master, who smiled winningly at the crowd and judges.

"And an excellent entrance by Dawn and Cyndaquil!" Marian exclaimed.

Not like that's anything new, Dawn smirked confidently. "All right Cyndaquil, let's start the suspense with a smokescreen! And then you know the drill--and by drill, I mean Dig!"

The little Pokemon let loose plumes of smoke from its mouth, and enough so that the arena was completely cloaked up to Dawn's waist. Then it tunneled through the ground, creating several holes. Dawn cheered her Pokemon on as it followed her commands, but it was mostly just for show, so that the audience would know something was going on since they couldn't see the stage at all. "Now," she shouted, "Flame Wheel!"

Cyndaquil popped out of the largest hole, which was strategically placed front and center. It was no ordinary exit either. It leaped into the air, twirling in a blaze of fire. The bright vision of the Pokemon in its flame wheel against the dark backround of smoke had a stunning effect. The audience was wowed.

Dawn grinned smugly, certain she had just owned them all. "Let's finish this up, Cyndaquil! You know what to do!"

Her Pokemon freed itself from its circle of fire and while it was suspended in midair, it aimed the most outrageously powerful Flamethrower anyone had ever seen. It was aimed straight at the biggest hole, and there was so much fire that geysers of fire erupted from the first hole's connected sisters. The attack's power launched Cyndaquil even higher into the air and on her way down. It landed gracefully, and all around it, its fire peaked and slowly died, shrinking back into the grounds, along with the smoke. Dawn and her Pokemon bowed graciously at their adoring audience as the cheers and whistles grew uproariously loud. She picked up her partner and the two of them waved as they ran off stage.

"Remarkable," one of the judges commented, as the others sat there, stunned.

"That Dawn sure knows how to turn up the heat," Marian laughed. "Now let's hear some more cheers for…"

**~*~**

Backstage, Zoey ran up to her best friend and hugged her tight. "I knew you and Cyndaquil were training extra hard, but I had no idea you guys had gotten that good!"

Dawn nodded emphatically. "Oh you have no idea! Cyndaquil and I worked on that Flamethrower for a week straight. I almost gave it up, but it was so determined that it practiced until it had melted a rock!"

"Well, you're definitely moving onto the next round," Zoey assured her friend triumphantly.

"Thanks, Zo," she replied, tossing her arm around her friend's shoulders. "I know when you're out there, you're gonna stun them all with your appeal."

The girls hugged one last time before they were interrupted. "Nice job, Dee-Dee," Kenny said as he strolled towards them, hands in his pockets. "You really had them amazed."

There was something about the way he said "them" that got Dawn curious. "Who do you mean when you say them?"

Kenny grinned widely. "I mean all of our friends. Didn't you check out the front row when you were up there?"

Dawn hurried to peek around the edge of the curtain. She ignored the girl who was performing with her Altaria, and instead scanned the crowd. Her jaw dropped when she recognized all the faces in the first row. Ash, Brock, Misty, May, who was side-by-side and holding hands with Drew, Lucas, her mom, her dad, who was engaged in an animated  
conversation with Gary, Barry, who seemed to be telling a joke to Leona, who giggled madly, and Paul, who ignored him completely. There lots of other friends there, too, like Zoey's old friend and Gym leader, Candice, and tons of the people she had met during her travels with Ash.

She turned numbly and faced Kenny and Zoey. "Wow," she managed to croak out. "I can't believe I didn't notice them before."

"Typical spacey old Dee-Dee," Kenny shook his head, but his girlfriend stomped on his toes and added,

"Of course you didn't notice, you were so focused. And it totally payed off!"

Dawn smiled gratefully at her friend. They headed further backstage, to await Zoey's and Kenny's appeals. When it was Kenny's turn, his Breloom tripped while demonstrating some of its kicks.

"Ugh," Kenny moaned later, "I can't believe Breloom tripped! I knew I should've gone with Alakazam, but I wanted Breloom to get some experience in a real Grand Festival." He plopped on the ground and buried his face in his hands.

"Look, it wasn't so bad," Zoey comforted him as she sat down next to him and enveloped him in a hug. "Breloom was really quick to get up and keep moving."

"Yeah," Dawn piped in. "Besides, all its other moves went by perfectly."

"Thanks, guys, but this is the _Grand Festival_ we're talking about. Only the best of the best get through…and to be real, I definitely didn't do my best out there," Kenny sighed. He looked resigned to the truth, but he still smiled bravely at his friends and wished them luck. He walked away with his head down and his Breloom toddled after him unhappily. Zoey started after him, but Dawn grabbed her and said quietly,

"There's nothing you can do."

Zoey looked sadly after him. Suddenly, her name was announced, and Dawn shoved her towards the stage entrance. "Knock 'em dead, girl!"

Zoey grinned, but unfortunately, she was distracted because of the Kenny incident. But Zoey was still a natural-born coordinator, and she did great out there. Dawn, who watched from the side of the stage, hidden in shadows, had seen Zoey at her best. The Zoey onstage was not the contest-winning Zoey.

She headed backstage after roaring applause and high praise from the judges. She expected Dawn to be there to hug her and squeal a congratulations, and was consequently surprised when her friend greeted her with a glare and an angry,

"Snap out of it, Zo! We're both sorrry about Kenny, but there's nothing we can do about it. I expect you to give it your all. I don't want to win against you if it's not your best. So get your head in the game!"

"But I don't want to upset Kenny. How mad would he be if I got the ribbon he wants so badly? I mean, at least I already won once."

Dawn kept up her uncharacteristic glare and argued, "Not as mad as he'd be I you lost because of him. Imagine how much worse he'd feel if it was his fault you'd lost."

"You're right," Zoey laughed ruefully. "Okay, Dawn, get ready for the  
fight of your life."

"That's more like it. Now here's the congratulatory hug I owe you," she said, satisfied, as she threw her arms around her best friend.

**~*~**

In the end, Zoey and Dawn were paired off against each other in the finals. "Bring it on," they told each other, cocky grins spread on both lip-glossed mouths, as they seperated to their respective sides of the battle arena. Gary leaned forward in his front-row seat, excited at the battle before him. After all, he had grown close with the two girls over the past month, and he couldn't make up his mind: who was stronger?

"Spotlight, Piplup!"

"Show 'em what you got, Leafeon!"

The girls called out their Pokemon simultaneously. The timer started its countdown. May chewed her fingernails mercilessly. She didn't know who to root for! Both girls were her best friends.

Zoey grinned to herself. _I knew Dawn would pick her Piplup…Leafeon can easily take care of this!_

Dawn bit her lip worriedly. _Piplup is used to contest battles...but still, I don't like being at a type disadvantage._

"Start it off with Energy Ball!" Dawn's points fell slightly, because Energy Ball was a beautiful attack. Luckily, she had the perfect strategy for dodging those typically used grass attacks.

"Bubblebeam and twirl combination!" Piplup jumped and spun through the air, avoiding the beam of light. At the same time, its bubbles were sent flying through the air, the majority of them hitting Leafeon. Zoey lost a fair amount of points as punishment for not hitting Piplup and for getting hit back. Brock nodded, as if he was expecting this. "Zoey should never take a type disadvantage for granted," he mumbled to himself.

_Okay, overconfidence = bad idea,_ Zoey grimaced to herself. We have to find ot a way to hit Piplup, but how?

"Okay, Leafy, let's start off with Sunny Day." Her Pokemon obeyed, and Zoey said, "Your move, Dawn."

"Gladly," Dawn smirked. "Piplup, Whirlpool!"

"And there's Piplup's famously powerful, yet surprisingly strong Whirlpool attack!" Marian cried. Piplup cheered its name in agreement as it raised the raging torrent of water above it head and threw it at Leafeon. Leafeon had nowhere to turn to. The whirlpool was way too large to dodge, so all it could do was run back and wait for the attack to come. Misty, sitting in between her old friends Brock and Ash, was impressed with the water-type attack--and that was saying something, seeing how she was a water Gym Leader. Leafeon cried out as it was hit, and Zoey felt her Pokemon's pain as if it were her own. "I'm so sorry! We'll turn this around right now!"

Zoey's points were now down to half, but she didn't care--she was going to win this. "Let's get you out of that whirlpool. Blow yourself out with Energy Ball, but aim it downwards at the water!"

But Dawn and her Piplup weren't making it easy for them. Piplup kept up a constant Bubblebeam attack, nailing Leafeon as it kept trying to power up its Energy Ball. Finally, it managed to evaporate the water with an exceptionally powerful Energy Ball, thanks to the Sunny Day. Dawn's points were almost as low as Zoey's. _I know you can do it, Zo!_ Kenny cheered internally, because he didn't want to look like he was picking sides.

"Yeah, Piplup! We can finish this off right here, right now! Give Leafeon a thank-you present for the win: your best Hydro Pump!" Even Paul had to be impressed, not that he showed it or anything. But when had that runty little penguin learned a move like Hydro Pump?!

Barry glanced at him anxiously when he saw the purple-haired trainer smirk. He was jealous. He had been trying to get the kid to crack a smile with his best jokes all night, then he smiles at the freaking contest? _Unbelievable_.

Zoey was so frustrated. She was trapped. The only thing to do? Fight back. "We have no choice! Solar Beam, and do it with a spin."

"The spin should guarantee that it hit, and add a little beauty. Plus, that Sunny Day allows her to hit without charging up!" Marian informed the crowd excitedly.

Which attack would make it out? The two powerful moves met and collided, causing steam to puff out. The whole arena was filled with thick, muggy steam and both girls knew that when it cleared, there would be only one Pokemon left standing.

The clouds drifted away to reveal…Piplup staggering to its feet…and then collapsing. Leafeon stood proudly, albeit trembling, above the fainted Pokemon. It turns out that the SolarBeam had burned right through the Hydro Pump, evaporating it completely. The water-type stood no chance against a powerful grass move like that.

Dawn ran to pick up her weary Pokemon. "I am so proud of you," she whispered in its ear. Because Piplup had fainted, they had to forfeit the match, but Dawn was so proud of how it had been working this entire match.

Meanwhile, Leafeon danced straight into its trainers arms. The winning duo stood proudly in the center of the arena, triumphantly accepting the roaring applause that thundered through the air around them.

After the awards ceremony, when Zoey--in all her tear-filled joy--accepted her second ribbon cup, she was bombarded with reporters. Dawn let her enjoy it, but after a while, she made up an excuse and dragged Zoey away.

"You were amazing," she told her as she squeezed her tightly. "I don't know what to say without sounding like a cliche, insincere jerk, but I'm so happy for you."

"I know!" Zoey smiled. "I caught up to you!"

"Well, we all have to lose sometime. Don't expect to get ahead of me," Dawn said, only half-joking. Kenny came up to them, and Dawn stepped aside to give the couple a private moment. Kenny swept his girlfriend up in his arms and kissed her, right in front of all those reporters.

"Kenny!" Zoey pulled away, gasping. "People are watching, you dummy."

He shrugged and grinned, seemingly unaffected by the fact he had lost. "Who cares? I'm proud of my girl." She shoved him, but only playfully.

"C'mon," he tugged on Zoey's hand. "I'll walk you girls home."

"But where's May?" Dawn asked anxiously. Her two friends were still staying at her apartment, and she didn't want to leave anyone behind.

"Eh, probably with Drew." Kenny shrugged again. "He'll take care of her."

"Okay," Dawn shrugged. That was true. Drew had been awfully protective of May. He had been hanging around the apartment a lot lately, and seeing this gentle, sober side of him had pretty much changed the way she viewed him. But he was still way too conceited, Dawn thought.

They stepped out of the elevator as Kenny told them how everyone was reacting during their intense contest.

"Yeah, I know," he laughed, "You should've seen Ash's face when your Pokemon sent off those last two attacks! He was so excited, I honestly thoght he was gonna jump into the ring and start battling you guys himself."

"That's so funny," Zoey grinned as Dawn giggled madly. "How was May holding up? Must've been hard for her, cheering for both her best friends."

Kenny nodded. "I don't think she has any fingernails left on her hands, but when you won, she was torn between crying and cheering. It's a weird thing, hearing someone scream in two different tones: happy and sad."

Dawn laughed harder, gasping for some oxygen.

Kenny was glad to be making her so glad, especially after her loss, and he needed to keep distracting the two of them. "Yeah, and you guys won't believe what they all said as soon as the contest ended."

"What? What?!" they shouted, jumping up and down. Kenny slipped his hand on the doorknob and opened it slightly to reveal Dawn's dark, unlit apartment. He stepped ahead of them, holding it open for the girls.

"Well, you're about to find out in about one second," he answered. They looked at him confusedly and were completely startled out of their skins as an earsplitting chorus of

"SURPRISE!!" greeted them.

Zoey jumped practically a foot in the air, her mouth opening to release a silent shriek. Dawn's reaction was much more…unexpected. She actually shrieked, the most high-pitched, painful, only-Growlithe-can-hear-it-and-cringe sound any of them had ever heard.

"Whoa, whoa there!" Gary shouted over her dramatics, hand clamped over his ears. "We do something to make you smile, and instead you pierce our eardrums!"

She shut her mouth suddenly and looked down sheepishly. "Sorry," she giggled weakly.

"Hey, it's cool," Lucas said as he walked over and hugged his half- sister. "And good job today, Sis. You completely kicked ass. Momhad to get home and so did Rowan but they saw and they said they were really proud."

Dawn beamed, practically blinding her brother with that megawatt smile. Her mother, who had won more Grand Festivals than Dawn knew, was still proud of her…even though she had lost. Dawn held back a sniffle.

"Make some room," Ash complained, shoving his way through the throng of people that had managed to cram itself in Dawn's apartment. "I want to congratulate my best friend, too!"

The two girls were bombarded by their friends, suffocated by hugs, and attacked by congratulations.

"Zoey!" Misty squealed, pushing her way to them. "I'm so happy for you! That was a great win!" She turned to Dawn, and Dawn could see the emotion spilling from her swimming pool green-blue eyes. She forgave her on the spot as Misty grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry for how I've acted before. I was wrong, and I hope now we can try to be friends."

Zoey smiled happily at the display of peace. "Accept it, Dawn, Misty's never gonna apologize first again."

Dawn laughed. "You didn't have to tell me, Zoey. I was gonna forgive her anyway. I'm sorry too. I was just as wrong as you were." She squeezed Misty's hand and added, "I'm so psyched! Now we can go shopping for swimsuits together!"

Misty rolled her eyes but grinned. "Whatever you say, Dawn."

Ash bumped into them. "Hey! Looks like you guys are finally friends. Took you long enough." He tossed an arm casually around Misty's shoulder. Dawn's eyes widened.

"You're not…?"

Misty blushed. "Of course not!"

Ash looked confused. "Not what?" When Dawn didn't answer, he walked away, grumbling "Girls. I'll never understand them!"

Dawn smiled affectionately at her friend's stupidity. She placed her arm instead around Misty's shoulder and comforted, "One day, Misty, one day."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Misty shouted hotly. She pushed Dawn away, but harder than she'd expected, so that her new blue-haired friend ended up knocking into the strong chest of one boy.

"Dawn!" Brock said as he grasped her shoulders and righted her. "Just the girl I wanted to talk to. Mind if we step somewhere quieter for a sec?" He had to shout over the uproar. The party around them was in full swing, and most of the boys had hauled Zoey up onto their shoulders as the girls sang "For She's a Jolly Good Trainer."

Dawn nodded and led him into the hall, where the noise was muted slightly. "Brock…I'm sorry about before. You know I've done a lot of thinking about what you said and you're totally right."

He started, "I actually wanted to apologize--"

"And I known I've been acting like a spoiled brat, twirling those guys around my fingers like they were toys or something--"

"Dawn, you don't have to beat yourself up--"

"So I wanted you to know that it's stopped. I'm not trying to find out what guys in love with me or anything. I mean, I've kind of figured out everything on my own, but it's not really--"

"I heard about Drew," Brock said bluntly.

That stopped Dawn short in her apologetic tirade. "Oh. But how?" she said, looking into his face with a curious, yet surprisingly calm expression.

"Gary. He told me to keep an eye on Drew, and of course I wanted to know why."

"Stupid Gary," Dawn mumbled, but she wasn't really upset. It wasn't Gary's news to tell, but then again, maybe Brock would pity her now.

"I heard about what he did to you, and how you still didn't tell May." He held her hand, squeezing it tightly. "You're a good friend. As I was watching you in the party, you didn't even seem to be holding a grudge against him."

"That's really thanks to Gary," Dawn told him modestly.

"I wanted to tell you how sorry I was about before. You're more mature than I though. I think I judged you too harshly."

Dawn looked at him squarely. "You know, I deserved that. I was being a total whore, running around from boy to boy. I'm surprised they don't all hate me--Ash, Barry, Gary, Luke. Heck, I'm glad I never got to Paul cause I know he'd hate me, and then I'd hate him. But I think we can both forget about it. Are we friends again?"

"Of course," he said emphatically, hugging her.

"Thanks for before. You helped me realize what a total bitch I was being. You always watched out for me, you know?" She smile at him brightly. "You're just like a big brother."

He smiled softly back at her. Dawn's heart was overflowing with happiness. She had two new(ish) friends, and now she had two brother-like figures in her life. All she needed was a boyfriend, but it wasn't even at the top of her concerns. She would just wait until the right man came along.

"Uh. Sorry." A blunt, cool voice snapped Dawn back to reality. She whipped around to see Paul standing at the entrance of the hall, a stoic expression masking his face.

Dawn shook her head sheepishly. "This looks weird, but no, Brock was just comforting me."

He stared at her, his expression somewhat curious, as if wondering what she needed comforting for, and also somewhat disgusted. But Dawn knew better than that. Paul never really cared about the feelings of anyone, including his own Pokemon. "Whatever," he finally said. "I was just looking for your bathroom."

"Oh! Right down there," she pointed down the hall, "And the first door on the right."

He nodded and brushed past them without another word. "That's just like him," Dawn said as the bathroom door shut.

"He's different," Brock commented, leaning away from her and looking in the direction of where the solemn other boy had just disappeared. "Less angry, but somehow…more emotion-less?"

"Yeah, well," Dawn shrugged. "Let's get back to the party." They stepped out of the hall, but Dawn couldn't help feeling unsettled. Paul was the only boy she hadn't given a chance to…and with his cold attitude, it was likely he would never get a chance.

**~*~**

A week later, and life was boring for Dawn. She was sitting idly in her room, playing with her hair as she listened to some lady on the TV blather about some nonsense rumors about famous people like Cynthia.

"DAWN!"

She was so startled she fell out of her bed. "What?" She called back, irritated.

"I can't find my favorite hairbrush," May's pouting face popped into her room.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Just borrow one of mine. I have like, fifty right there on my dresser."

"No, it's not for my hair, it's for my bag!" May said frantically as she crawled around on the floor, sweeping her arms like an octopus with brooms for arms.

"You need to brush you bag?" Dawn asked, dumbfounded.

"No, silly, to pack! I'm leaving in two days remember?"

Dawn slapped her forehead. Duh! They had just discussed this last night. There was really nothing left to do: the Grand Festival was over, Dawn wasn't running around trying to catch her true love, May's parents didn't like her running around a completely different region for so long, especially without boys like Ash and Brock to protect her, and Zoey wanted to go back to Snowpoint to avoid all the crazy fanboys who were stalking her after her Festival win.

Dawn sighed and joined May on the floor to help her look. "I forgot you guys were leaving." It was her turn to pout. "Can't you just move in with me? It's going to be so dull without my girls. Everyone's gone."

May clucked her tongue sympathetically. "You know I would if I could. But Drew and I wanna get back to participate in some Hoenn contests. I can't wait to compete again! It's gonna be ten times more fun with Drew by my side," she beamed.

Dawn sighed internally, but she didnt let it show on her features. She was happy that May was finally happy and confident again, but she wanted to have what May had: that giddy, bubbly, always-on-my-mind-and-heart happy that Drew gave May. It was kind of pathetic, but still, she was a girl and all girls had swoon-y fairytale-ish dreams, even the ones who were tough, like Zoey. After all, Zoey was dating Kenny.

But May had known Dawn for five years, and could see straight through her. "What's wrong?"

Dawn decided to confess. "Oh, you know. Lonely." Then she laughed at herself and tried to joke, "I sound like I'm a forty-year-old virgin."

May wasn't buying it. She felt guilty for being happy even though her friend wasn't, as ridiculous as that sounded. She had to do something about this. "You know you'll find Mr. Perfect."

Dawn was about to retort bitterly and sarcastically, coming up with a negative comment about howopverused and untrue that statement was, when Zoey screeched in the other room.

"OUCH! What the HELL?!"

They got up and raced to her. They found her bouncing around on one foot, howling swears and trying to massage her foot at the same time.

"What happened?" Dawn demanded.

Zoey tried to form words between her pained curses. "I just wanted to take a freaking pee--and I was walking--when ahhh! I stepped on the sharpest thing in the world!" she flopped on the ground, tenderly holding her foot. May inspecte the ground around her, trying to find the suspect. She blushed and murmured sheepishly,

"Uh, guys? I think I found my brush."

Dawn laughed aloud as she looked at the lethal beauty tool in her friend's hand. The little spikes on the brush were capped with plastic and the entire miniature brush itself was too small to notice.

"I hate you all," Zoey said as she laid on her back and closed her eyes, trying to block out her friends' barely suppressed laughter.

**~*~**

Later that night as Dawn took a shower--and holy cow, that girl took long showers--Zoey and May turned down the volume on the television and sat next to their mostly packed suitcases.

"We can't really leave yet," Zoey said in a concerned tone.

May nodded. "I know. We have to find someone to keep Dawn company while we're gone. She's sad enough as it is."

"We could hire a babysitter," Zoey suggested, only half-kidding.

"I was thinking something more along the lines of a boy." May rolled her eyes.

"So was I," Zoey sighed. "But she's pretty much tried a relationship with every dude we know."

"Well…except for one…" May trailed off uncertainly.

"No way," Zoey shook her violently. "Not who you're thinking of, not Paul. Really, May? _Paul_, of all people!"

"They say he's changed!" May argued. "Less angry all the time, because he still hasn't won the League and it made him realize how stupid his training regime was."

"A jerk is a jerk is a jerk, and that's all there is to it." Zoey crossed yer arms and looked completely unmovable, but May wasn't giving up. She grabbed hold of Zoey's arm and shook her slightly, trying to shake such permanent thoughts from her mind.

May shook her head slowly. "You didn't see her face before when I was talking about Drew. Our Dawn is a strong girl, but she's the only one out of us who hasn't got a boyfriend--even Misty might get Ash soon. She feels left out and insecure, I know it!"

"Maybe you're right. We should talk to him. Do you think he'd give her a shot?"

"I guess we'll find out."

The next day, Zoey, who had managed to snitch Paul's number during one of the last couple of blowouts held by Dawn, called him on his Poketch. She and May were out of the apartment, telling Dawn that they had just needed to get some last minute supplies for their journey. Paul appeared on the screen of the PC at the Pokemon center, where they had called him. He looked faintly surprised to see them, but only said,

"What?"

"Hello to you too, Paul," Zoey snapped.

May smacked her arm where Paul couldn't see. "Sorry about that, she's just cranky today. Female thing. Do you have a minute to talk?"

"If I didn't, I woudln't have picked up," he grunted. "But that doesn't mean you're not wasting my time. What do you want?"

"Okay, look," Zoey said, getting straight to the point. "We need you to spend some time with Dawn."

He looked surprised again. "Dawn? What for?"

"She's our best friend and she's lonely. I have to get back to Hoenn and Zo has to get back to Snowpoint, and that'd too far for either of us to visit her daily."

"And Veilstone isn't far to you?"

Zoey snorted impatiently. "That's like, a half hour flight. You can deal with that, right?"

He ignored her irritation, "Tell me why I should do this. Give me a convincing reason."

"Please," May asked beseechingly. "You're human, right, Paul? You care about what happens to your fellow humans, don't you?"

He just stared at her flatly. Zoey snarled,

"Just do it. Or else I'll find you."

"You don't want that to happen," May piped up.

He considered them silently as the girls waited anxiously for his answer. "Fine," he conceded reluctantly. "What should I do?"

May sighed in relief and reassured, "Oh, it'll be easy! You just have to pop in once and a while and say hi and try to be nice."

Zoey added, "Yeah, and she'll probably do all the talking, so you can be your usual antisocial self. But no glaring, and no fighting."

"Fine," he said shortly and then hung up.

"Did we do the right thing?" May said worriedly to her redheaded companion.

"Sure," she said, not sounding confident in herself at all.

**~*~**

That night, in Dawn's apartment, the girls were having a final girly powwow. Zoey had even let Dawn fix up her hair and paint her toenails. "It should tide me over until I see you guys again and convince you to take it off," she said.

They joked around until midnight, when Zoey insisted that she and May get sleep for the journey ahead of them.

"I'm going to miss you guys so much," Dawn sniffled.

May her tears in her eyes too. "Call me all the time, okay? I'll tell you all about my contests and Drew, and you can tell me how you're doing."

"I love you both so much. You're my best friends," Zoey said, brushing away the tears and insisting that the hairdo Dawn had just given her was irritating her eyes.

They hugged each other. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too long until they had a group hug like this again.

**~*~**

Dawn was alone in her apartment a week later. Everything was finally neat, clean, quiet and in perfect order, but Dawn liked it better when it was messy, because it meant she had someone else with her to mess it up.

She sighed as she wandered around her space. She had plenty of time to train, she had already cleaned the whole place, and she didn't want to waste her money on shopping if she wasn't going to win more money in contests soon. Maybe Pachirisu will brighten thing up for me, she thought.

"Chippa!" it cried as it hopped out of its Pokeball. It immediately dashed to Dawn's shoulder and perched there proudly, chattering its name over and over.

"Hi there, buddy," she said cheerfully. She scratched its ear. It suddenly jumped off her shoulder and started racing around the room, knocking everything over as it searched for some unknown object.

"Chi, chippa!" it cried gleefully as it stood next to a bag of overturned Poffins. It gobbled seven at once. During its quest for sugar, it had knocked over a hamper of dirty laundry, two picture frames, one footstool in her closet, a cup of pens and pencils, some Pokemon care books off her desk and three of the pillows from her bed.

"Pachirisu, no!" Dawn cried helplessly. She stood there and watched as all her possesions came tumbling to the floor. "Pachirisu, you get back here right now!"

The little Pokemon ignored its trainer and kept nibbling its Pokefood. Dawn crept up on her Pachirisu and grabbed it from behind. Startled, it let out a powerful Discharge attack, standing Dawn's hair on end and giving her a slightly crispy smell. At that moment, the untimely _Ding Dong!_ of the doorbell echoed in Dawn's ears.

She groaned, "Who the heck is visiting me now?"

She trudged over to the door and threw it open, ready to tell the unknown and unwelcome visitor in her politest tone that now was not a good time. She was stopped in her weary tracks when she saw a face that she was definitely not expecting.

"Paul," she said surprisedly. "Paul!" She shrieked and slammed the door. She rushed to the nearest mirror and tried her best to tame it. After three desperate seconds, she just threw it into a ponytail and rushed back and opened the door with her sweetest smile. He had just turned away and was walking down the hall when he heard the door open, so he had turned back.

"Paul!" she called out to him. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Dropping by for a visit?"

"Oh," she said, a little disconcerted. "That was really nice of you," she said happily. Maybe now would be her chance to soften him up!

He shrugged and didn't reply.

"Um, so…you want to step inside or something?" she said hesitantly. She could not believe how awkward she felt. She never felt awkward--never! He nodded and silently followed her in. She called over her shoulder to him,

"So, Paul, how have you been?"

"I saw you last week."

"Oh, well, you know," she said lamely. She grabbed a bottle of soda from her fridge and two cups from her cupboards and sat down on the couch, gesturing for him to join her. She poured him a cup and he swallowed it all in one gulp. She tried to start a conversation again.

"So, how are your Pokemon?"

"Good."

She was so fed up with his attitude. "Look, Paul, I don't know why you even came here if you're not going to talk!"

"You're right. This was such a waste of time," he said as he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Then why don't you just leave?" she snapped. He stood up and said,

"Fine, I will!" as he stomped to the door. She shoved him from behind, sick of his abrupt rudeness.

"Don't expect me to come back," he warned her as he momentarily stopped in the doorway. She sneered right back,

"Don't expect me to want you back."

He glared at her, hard. She glared right back, staring straight into his black eyes, watching his eyebrows squish together in frustration, watching the way his shaggy purple hair fell over his angry eyes, smelling his clean, musky scent…kissing him on the lips?!

"Oh, Arceus!" she pulled away in a second with a quick gasp. She clapped her hand over her mouth, muffling her words as she said, "I have no idea why I did that...I'm so sorry, it was an accident!"

He shook his head like a wet dog trying to clean itself of dirty water. "Never kiss me again. Never. Got that?"

Dawn was thoroughly fed up by now. She'd been angry, frustrated, confused and electrocuted by now. She felt her eyes tear up as she said in a broken voice, "Just go. I can't take anymore--leave."

"Pathetic," she heard him mumble as he walked away, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets.

She shut the door quietly and slumped to the floor against it. She buried her face in her hands and fought the tears that begged to be free from her eyes. _Well, you said it yourself, Dawn: We all have to lose sometime._

**The End**

**A/N:** Or is it? After all, it seems like there's more to Paul than we think...I guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out!


	9. Chapter 9

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON POV-*-*-**

And so, Dawn was left alone. She had no one but her Pokemon to keep her company, but in a way that was helpful: she trained her Pokemon until they nearly collapsed, but unlike certain unmentionable trainers, she fed and cuddled and praised them after each session. She did not want to isolate the only company she had. Often, May called, but after the first couple of times she never answered again. It was just too difficult seeing her with Drew, who had always been there when she called.

_It was so unfair_, Dawn thought savagely. _I'm every bit as pretty as May, and as just as good a coordinator. Why can't I get a boyfriend?_ Then she sighed. _It's not May's fault. But still, it seemed too…unfair._

On a chilly Sunday morning, she ordered her Mamoswine to practice its Hidden Power. She stood there patiently, watching it give Hidden Power its best shot. "Good," she called when it grew tired a few moments later. "How about we take a quick break? Enjoy some Poffins," she added with a grin, knowing that the Pokemon would be quick to stampede over.

She tossed some Poffins in the air, absent-mindedly stroking its coarse, dense fur as it chomped on its beloved snack.

"It's too quiet, Mammy," she said, sighing. "I'm not used to this."

She went to bed early, gathering her warm Pokemon around her in her comfy bed. She whispered to them a hushed, weary goodnight. She fell into the embrace of a much-welcome sleep: it was the only time where she didn't feel alone; her dream people seemed so real.

Far into the night, she lay breathing deeply, cuddled up to a pillow. If anyone had been watching her sleep, she would have seemed quite content in the land of sweet dreams. But what was really going in her head?

She was swimming with Piplup in Lake Verity. They were floating on their backs, adding an occassional stroke to move them further into the center of the Lake. They just lay there, sunbathing and basking the sunlight. Dawn was startled out of her relaxed position when she heard a loud splash to her far right. She sank slightly into the water and started treading as she craned her neck to try and find the source of the mysterious noise.

Looking around and not seeing anything, she shrugged and said, "Weird, huh, Piplup?"

No response.

She looked around, freaked. "Piplup? Piplup!" instinctively, she reached to her side to withdraw a PokeBall until she remembered she was in her bikini. She hurriedly swam to the shore where she had placed her backpack, afraid that she would run into whatever had splashed into the lake. She was only a few yards away from land, when something brushed against her entire lower left leg. Dawn had only managed to breathe a sudden intake of air before a raging, rampaging Gyarados leaped up in front of her. It glared angrily at her. Frozen with terror, she could do nothing but stare back. It roared,

"GYAAA!"

"Please," she whimpered pathetically as if the Gyarados was actually a merciful reasonable creature, struggling to keep afloat, "Please, don't eat me."

Unsurprisingly, it didn't seem to hear her cry for mercy--or perhaps it didn't care. It lunged straight towards her, fangs bared, well-muscled tail raised to attack. Dawn's face was so wet, butshe couldn't tell if it were tears coursing down her face or lake water. She shut her eyes and trembled in the water, giving up her fight to stay above the waterline. As her muscles relaxed, she became naturally bouyant, but neither the attack nor the ripping of her own delectable flesh that she had expected came.

She heard a loud hissing noise and a shocking wave of water pushed her under. Her instincts propelled her up out of the watery grave and she rocketed to the surface, spluttering for oxygen and coughing the water out of her lungs. Dawn struggled to water shallow enough for her to sit in and she collapsed tiredly, pausing to catch her breath and her senses, letting the sunlight warm her half-drowned body.

"Vi," someone--something?--said close to her. She jolted to awareness and examined her surrounding area to find a Weavile standing above her, staring at her with some unreadable expression in its eyes. She scrambled away from it, unable to tear her gaze away from its rakish claws. After that attack from the monstrous water Pokemon, she was more than wary.

"_Vi_," it said again, this time gesturing to the lake. She turned her head and was stunned to see a block of ice suspended on the surface of Lake Verity. That wasn't even the shocking part; she couldn't believe what was in the ice: the giant Gyarados stuck stock-still, still baring its fangs, still raising its massive tail.

Turning back to the unmoving Weavile, she stared into its eyes, unable to properly speak any words of thanks. Its eyes were darker than an ink stain, darker than any midnight sky, darker than a bedroom without nightlights. It opened its mouth as if to say something else, but the dream changed course and the entire lake scene faded into oblivion.

Instead, Dawn was dancing on stage, finishing the number with a tricky arabesque, holding completely still with her leg raised impossibly high in the air. It was as if she was another contest, but this time without any of her Pokemon. She was rewarded with ear-drum-shattering applause anyway, and she relaxed from her position and bowed and blew kisses. She continued until every audience member melted away, except for one. He was sitting front row and center, and he was standing up tall and proud, clapping as vigorously as ever and that was the only sound that echoed through the stadium. The light cast shadows upon him so that his face remained in darkness.

He agilely jumped on stage to join her, but for some reason, Dawn found she couldn't meet his gaze. He held out a hand to her as if inviting her to dance, but as she reached out to accept it, staring at the buttons on his shirt, he pulled away teasingly. He laughed, and she found the sound inexplicably soothing. Then…he ran away. Dawn--unsure of what about him drew her in--started chasing after. He was a stranger…but at the same time, annoyingly familiar. He dashed backstage and she tried to catch him, but a cord hooked up to some microphone tripped her. She braced herself to meet the hard ground, but she kept falling and Dawn had no idea when she would stop.

The real Dawn was jolted into reality. She sprang into a sitting position in her own bed gasping and holding back a scream.

_Ugh, I hate falling in dreams_, she groaned to herself. She threw herself back into sleeping position and tried to fall back asleep, but the dreams haunted her thoughts, torturing her into a troubled world that she saw only through her mind's eye.

**-*-*-DAWN'S POV-*-*-**

I curled up in my chair the next morning, sipping a hot chocolate. It was sunny and warm out, but I couldn't care less. Hot chocolate was always calming and always _so_ yummy. It was deathly quiet in the apartment, but I didn't feel like preparing food for my Pokemon so I left them in their balls. But the quiet was so empty. I sighed and shifted my position on my chair, careful not to let the somewhat-warm chocolate spill onto my silk pajamas.

As I drained the cup, I thought about those dreams last night. Usually I could hardly remember anything I dreamed, unless of course I dreamed about winning the Grand Festival or meeting some really cute, famous trainer like Volkner from Sunyshore or Falkner from Johto. But I remembered every detail from last night: from the length of the Gyarados' fangs to the color of the stranger's shirt buttons.

Oh, and the muscle beneath that shirt, I recalled blushingly, naughtily. There was something special about him. And he's not even real! Or was he? This was so confusing for me. I got up to rinse off my cup and clear my head of impossible thoughts.

But more and more days passed and nothing got better for me. Sure my Pokemon got massively skilled, and that was a major plus since the contest season was coming up again, yet as much as I loved my amazing kickass team, people get a little lonely from a lack of humanity. And restless. Holy guacamole, I get so bored when we take a break from training. I cleaned my entire apartment every day, and when that was done I watched TV, and when I watched every possibly watch-able program, I organized the food in my pantry according to box color and food texture. I needed a life, but where in Arceus' world was I gonna get one with my friends being all cool and busy _without me_?

I spent the weekend training my Pokemon and grooming them in the sunshine of Amity Square. I really spent way too much there than healthy. There was a thing such as too much fresh air and sunshine and exercise, especially for a teenager like me.

I ran the brush through Cyndaquil's warm fur, only to have her tun away from me and messed up all the work I just put into making it shiny and soft. _Stupid Pokemon_, I grumbled, not really irritated. Cyndaquil got a running start and leaped on Mamoswine's back, but some of his bristly hairs tickled her little snout. She sneezed (oh my gosh, she has the cutest sneeze!) and sent flames out her mouth and onto poor Mamoswine's back, causing him to he roar and shake Cyndaquil off his back. Cyndaquil landed on the ground, dazed. He roared again and Piplup toddled over and sprayed him roughly with a powerful Water Gun. Angry but safe and wet and _not_ on fire, he glowered at the much smaller Pokemon and stormed after them as they squealed and ran away in terror. Watching all my Pokemon fool around with and chase each other made me think of that dream I had a while back, chasing the mysteriously sexy stranger. For some reason, I just couldn't forget it. It was so vivid.

I leaned against the tree and relaxed in the shade, letting my arms rest from the half hour I spent brushing thick fur. I let my Pokemon run wild and sank into my thoughts, which were dominated by Mr. TallDarkHandsome. He was so familiar! Have you ever had tht kind of dream--where you knew someone but at the same time, didn't really? And why did he run away from me? He was the one who offered to dance in the first place! Maybe I was thinking too deeply about this. _It was just a dream, after all,_ I laughed at myself.

For a few minutes, I tried to come up with some more pretty combinations to teach my Pokemon, but thinking about the contest stage made me think of chasing that guy around the stage. Okay, I guess I might as well figure out why this was bothering me so much.

So what had happened? Well, in the first dream I got saved by a Weavile. That was just too obscure and weird for me to even attempt to grasp a meaning from. Maybe I could figure out what the second dream meant. In the second dream I saw a guy, but not his face. He seemed exceedingly attractive even though I couldn't really look at him. He basically asked me to dance then ran away before I got the chance to accept. Then I chased him and then the dream ended. Was this Darkrai trying to torture me or was it Cresselia trying to send me some sort of message? What could she be saying? Were they trying to remind me that no matter how pathetically I chased guys, I would never succeed? Were they trying to remind me of how lonely I was?

I pounded my head against the tree, racking my brain for more optimistic meanings. Was it that I would soon find Mr. Perfect, one day? Was it that the people I had been chasing weren't worth chasing? As I shifted through my jumbled mess of a brain, I checked up on my Pokemon. They were still running around like crazy, and Mamoswine still hadn't caught anyone. This was good speed training for him.

I laughed out loud, this time, a real laugh. I cheered on my tempermental Mamoswine, "Come on, Mammy! I know you can catch the others! Try harder!"

And just like that, I was struck by lightning, my own words hitting me like a Pelipper's poop hits someone's head. Try harder. Maybe I wasn't running fast enough to catch that dream guy. What if that dream guy was Prince Charming trying to sweep lonely Pricess Dawn off her feet?

How did this relate to my life? Who had I not tried hard enough with? I think I worked pretty darn hard trying to win over those boys. I was almost actig like a total S-L-U-T, as was previously established by May. Prince Charming should have come begging down on his knees for me!

But what if Prince Charming didn't think I wanted him to come begging on his knees? What if I had to make my own dreams come true? If there was something I learned in the past couple of months, it's that happy endings don't come with a quick wave of a wand. Even for Cinderella (after all, she had to go through all that crap of losing a shoe.) I was not going to act like a fairy princess. I'm turning into a lonely, cranky, desperate old maid, and hell, I was going to hunt that Prince Charming down and propose to him myself, if that's what it took. I was going to be a rampaging Mamoswine, trying to catch my perfect prince.

But who?

I thought back to my past weeks when it hit me.

This giant woolly mammoth knew exactly who she had to find, who she had to chase.

And giant woolly mammoths don't ever give up. Not even if they shed all their hair, lose their tusks, and get extremely overheated. I wasn't going to give up, not even if a volcano exploded lava in my face.

**A/N:** So, the Weavile dream will be soon elaborated upon, as will the final boy Dawn's chasing. They will either end up together, or it'll fall apart and Dawn will kill herself or go lesbian. What do you think will happen? Sorry for the extreme shortness of this chapter...it's the shortest since the first chapter. But I got a review out of the blue from dewdrop6 and realized that I needed to update this story so I spit this chapter out. I wanted to get this out ASAP, even though I originally planned to have the final ending in here. Ah, well, looks like another cliffy. Sorry, guys, but I wrote a ten-page term paper, finished two projects, and studied for finals, which are next week, along with the SATs. Ouch, I know. At least summer's coming, and you know what that means: a new story! I have a couple ideas, and when I wrap this one up I'm going to ask for you guys to vote on them. Do you guys like having chapters this short or did you like them better long? Anyway thanks for reading and leave me a review! I love you guys!


	10. Chapter 10

"Paul?" I banged on the front door of what was his house in Veilstone. "Paul! Open this door right now!"

I had climbed aboard Mamoswine, apologizing to him for having to carry me so far the warm weather. He grunted. We got to Veilstone from Hearthome in about two hours, only because I didn't want to push him really hard.

"Come on, Paul! Be a man and face me. Look, I'm sorry about that day outside my apartment. See-I apolgized, now it's your turn. _Paul!_" I yelled through the door. I started banging on it with my fist, hitting his door so hard I'm sure he'd be surprised at how strong I was. Then, I heard chains unlatching and the click of an unlocking the door, and the door swung open. An old lady wrapped up in a bathrobe opened the door and glared at me.

"What do you want?" she snapped, _still_ glaring me in a way I never knew old ladies could.

I gave her my best winning smile, the one that had fanboys clamoring to take pictures of me. "Sorry, ma'am! I was just looking for my friend, Paul. Do you-"

She waved her hand in the air wildly, waving my words away as if they were just irritating cigarette smoke someone just blew at her. I lifted my eyebrow, about to get all diva on her little granny attitude, but she interrupted me with the biting words,

"Just got off my front porch, you little trashy teenager!"

I gaped. Okay, what crawled into her bran and gave her diarrhea? Jeez. She needed to chill her bathrobe. Despite my all my mom's training in etiquette, I gave the (much) elder woman a glare and stomped huffily away. I was just a lost little girl looking for some guidance. I rounded the corner so I was out of sight from her house then released Cyndaquil, cooing, "Hi, baby, how are you doing?" Bending over, I scratched her ear as she snuggled against my leg. "Cyndaquil, I need you to help me. Someone was just incredibly rude to me, and we're gonna get even!"

She let out a huff of hot steam when she heard that I was recently abused, but brightened up and deviously said, "Quil!"

I laughed, but quickly added, "No, we're gonna burn down her house. We're not criminals. But I need you to burn a couple of sticks for me, so I can get some charcoal."

When Cyndaquil finished, I recalled her just in case the crazy old woman tried to hurt her after I finished my evil little deed. On the front of her pristine white house, I started scratching words into her unblemished wall. Now I wondered why I ever thought that this was Paul's house. There's no way that such a perfectly spotless house could be kept so by two bachelors and a horde of battling Pokemon. I finished, tossing aside the charcoal and stepping back to admire my handiwork.

GET SOME MANNERS, GRANNY!

was etched onto the wall, contrasting strongly against the pure white wall. I grinned demonically, feeling like quite the badass. Suddenly, I heard snarls and hisses begging to be released from behind the front door.

"Oh, crap," I muttered as I headed down the front porch. I faintly heard the same angry old woman asking her pets,

"Snubbul, Purugly, what's wrong, lumpkin-cakes? What, is their a big, bad intruder at the door? Go get him!"

I managed to make it to the other side of the street before the irate Pokemon started chasing me. _Thank Arceus for all my practice in high heels_, I thought as I made a dash for it. I kept running, fast and hard, the Pokemon gaining on me bit by bit. I was internally screaming, too out-of-breath for any real sounds to come out of my mouth. I dashed through random people's backyards and front yards, switching between the two in attempt to lose them. Bushes smacked my legs and their evil tree friends smacked every other part of me. I'm a healthy person, but I've never been the ultimate athlete, and I could feel my self slowing down. I ended up collapsing on some random stranger's yard, trying to catch my long-gone breath. The granny's Pokemon were about to maul my face, when I heard a voice say surprisedly, "What the-! Torterra, Frenzy Plant!"

I could hear whimpers the Pokemon were violently pushed away. I opened my eyes and looked up to see a massive, snarling Torterra facing off the Snubbull and Purugly, which both turned tail and ran from the much larger, powerful Pokemon.

"What the hell were you doing? Where _the hell_ were your Pokemon?" a familiar voice scolded disdainfully.

My eyes slowly focused on the stranger's face in the glaring sunlight, and purple hair and angry black eyes came into view. "Oh, thanks, Paul!" I said gratefully. I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Yet again, I was playing the damsel in distress. Ugh. I shrugged it off after a moment, though. I figured fixing this with Paul required plenty of guts that damsels in distress seemed to painfully lack.

He ignored me and walked away, up the front porch of what I realized must be his house. "Okay, don't help me up," I muttered under my breath. I scrambled up to my feet and bounded after him. "Paul, can I talk to you for a sec?"

He stopped moving but his back remained facing me. "What?"

"Well, we really didn't get along the other day and I don't understand why, and I really hope we can try to be friends again," I said brightly. It's always best to meet pessimism with optimism.

"Don't you have someone else to run along and play with?" his voice was even and although I couldn't see his face, I saw his fists tighten.

"Well, honestly, no. All my friends are gone and/or busy. Please, Paul, couldn't we at least talk for a little bit?" I begged.

"You're so pathetic. You weren't even smart enough to call out your own Pokemon to protect you. What makes you think I would even want to be in the same room with you?"

Ouch. I shrugged it off. Again. "Hey! You're talking to me! Insulting me, to be technical, but it's a start! Usually you just walk away without a word."

"Thanks for reminding me." He marched back into his house, spine rigid, not sparing any look backwards.

I mentally threw myself in front of a Tauros stampede. Argh! He was SO frustrating. But I was one strongheaded girl whose mama always taught her to follow her dreams, and I am dreaming of Paul. So I chased after him, two running steps of mine matched his long stride. I was right at his back when he slammed the door in my face-and on the two fingers that had reached out to him.

Let's just say my scream was not really a human noise.

"Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie!" Paul cried as he clapped his over his ears. He had thrown the door wide open when he heard me scream, but seemed to regret it as soon my shriek pierced his eardrums. "There's no need to be so dramatic!" He yelled.

I let my scream fade away as I replied, "You have got to be joking! You just smashed my fingers!" Tears streamed down my face, and I couldn't help but feel frustrated at myself. I know the anger should have been directed at him, but I hated showing weakness in front of Paul. I expected him to slam that damn door in my face again, and I made no move to try and stop him. But instead, he sighed rather irritatedly and knelt down next to me on his porch, where I had slumped, cradling my injured pinky and ring finger. He picked my hurt left hand up-albeit rather gingerly, as if he were afraid of cooties or something-and examined it closely. My skin was already darkening from deep red to purple, and the pinky was bent at a funny angle.

"Crap. That's gotta be at least a really bad sprain," he muttered. With his head bent, his hair was falling over his eyes and I couldn't see his face.

"No shit," I cursed bitterly. I hardly ever cursed-only in extreme cases of overwhelming emotion. And right now, I was inexplicably frustrated. I ripped my hand out of his, too upset to even care that Paul was just holding my hand. "But it's not like you care."

He looked up, right into my eyes. "I am sorry about that, whether you believe it or not. I would never hurt anyone or anything on purpose, and I…I feel horrible for doing that to your hand." His eyes were so black that it was really hard to read them. His tone and facial expression was blank as a patch of freshly fallen snow and as flat and unchanging as an expansive prairie. Still, I don't think I've ever heard him apologize for anything, least of all to me. I couldn't help but soften instantly.

"I forgive you," I said gently, looking at him through my eyelashes. I said tentatively, "Um, could you please help me with this?" I picked up my injured hand with the healthy one and waved it around. "It hurts a lot."

He looked at me steadily for a long, anticipation-filled moment before finally relenting. "All right, only because I owe you." He got up and brushed off his jeans before offering his hand to me. I looked at his hand, then at mine, then back at his.

"Um…"

"Oh, right," he said. Was that a blush I spotted faintly coloring his cheeks? Nah, it couldn't be.

He leaned down and hoisted me up by pulling me from my waist. I turned my head away so he couldn't see me blush.

"Thanks," I said softly.

He wasn't even looking at me as he walked into his house, but I heard him reply, "I didn't know that you even had a quiet voice."

What was it about Paul that had me so attracted? His unique purple hair? His strong, sturdy body? The way he was like an impossible-to-solve puzzle? Or was it the way he didn't immediately fall over me, the way he didn't stare shamelessly at my body or at my face, the way he never, ever, flirted back no matter what girly techniques I used on him? Whatever it was, it had me following him straight into his house, where no one was home except the two of us.

I had been in here before, with Ash, Brock, and Reggie, and it didn't change much. I guess boy trainers aren't really into interior decoration.

"Sit there," he said when we got to his kitchen, indicating a hair parked in front of his table. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a medium-sized white box and placed it on the table in front of me. He rifled through its contents for a bit, eventually retrieving out a pill bottle, some bandages, and tape. He picked my hand up and examined it closely. Then, out of nowhere, he straightened the two smashed fingers so that they lay in a normal position.

I screamed.

He ignored me and wrapped the cloth bandage tightly around my fingers, tying my middle finger to its injured pink and ring companions to help brace the hurt ones. He handed me a pill and instructed,

"Drink this and it should help with the pain."

I told him, "I can't really take pills without water."

He rolled his eyes but grabbed a water bottle for me anyway. After I had downed the painkiller, I jut sat there, completely unsure of what to do or say next. Paul avoided my gaze awkwardly.

"Well," he finally, awkwardly broke the silence. "Didn't you come looking for me for a reason?"

"Oh, wow!" I said excitedly. I looked at him with shining eyes. "You're actually going to talk to me?"

"I feel…" he paused uncomfortably then continued in a rush, "I feel like I owe you something for what I did. I blew a fuse and ended up hurting you."

"Aw, Paul! You're trying to make up for something!" I gave him a congratulatory smile.

He scowled. I sighed and said lightly, "It's okay, Paul! I was just joking around with ya!" His expression remained unchanged. "Okay, okay," I continued. "I'll stop. But do you really want to know why I came here today?"

He moved away and sat down in the chair across from me. His eyes fixated upon my face, he simply nodded.

"In that case, I just wanted to come here because I'm lonely, to put it bluntly."

Paul's black eyes seemed to grow blacker, but his facial expression was unwavering. "And what do you expect me to do about that?"

I scratched my head. "Um, nothing I guess. I just needed a human to talk to before I went absolutely crazy locked up in my apartment."

"I said it once and I'll say it again, don't you have other people to entertain you?"

I looked away. I was embarrassed about the fact that all my friends were off traveling while I wasn't. "No," I said.

He grunted in response, and silence enveloped us again. If we spent another second like this, I mitt suffocate. "Please, Paul," I begged, "There's gotta be something you wanna say, or talk about."

"Not really," he growled. Okay, I've had enough. Maybe I should give him a while to breathe Dawn-free and then come back.

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON POV-*-*-**

Dawn went out for cupcakes, trying to satiate a sugar craving. She decided to bring one back to Paul to sweeten him up. She thought he needed it. Badly.

When she knocked on his door, he opened and eyed her stonily. She smiled innocently at him, batting her eyelashes and holding out the chocolate cupcake to tempt him. He grunted and stepped aside, granting her entrance. She skipped gaily in, leading herself to the kitchen and placing the cupcake in front a seat and sat in the chair opposite it. Paul followed her reluctantly, as if he were afraid of what she would do next. He sat in the chair with the cupcake in front of it and stared at Dawn, completely ignoring the treat.

She pouted, "Aren't you gonna eat it?"

He finally glanced down at the cupcake. Picking it up gingerly, he held it up at eyelevel. He got up and took a spoon from one of his kitchen drawers and scooped all the icing off, being extra careful that no bit of chocolate was left alive. He tossed the spoon into the kitchen sink-a perfect shot. Dawn stared at him, speechless.

"Did you really just do that?"

Paul shrugged, swallowing the icing-less cake at once. He waited a minute for the hastily chewed mush to slide down his esophagus before answering, "It's not good for you. I have to keep in shape. Plus, chocolate's gross."

"How could you not like chocolate?" Dawn screeched in protest.

Paul sighed. "I just told you: it's bad for you."

Dawn sat there, pondering over this troubling piece of information while Paul got up and washed off the spoon. He dried it with some paper towels before stuffing it back in the drawer. Dawn kept gaping.

"Wow," she mused aloud. "I'm learning so much about you!"

"It's not like you were trying very hard before," he muttered so quietly that Dawn almost didn't hear him. Luckily, she was used to having to listen to Ash speak with a full mouth and therefore was quite skilled in the art of deciphering words. She frowned a little as she replied, "Well I guess that's true." She looked at him sheepishly, "I guess we haven't really started off right…what with me traveling with your rival," she paused and admitted ashamedly a second later, "and with me attacking you...with my lips."

Paul responded with a noncommittal grunt.

Dawn said softly, avoiding his penetrating gaze, "Paul…I am sorry about our past. We never really got the chance to be friends. And to be honest, I really liked you back when we were kids."

She felt her face heat up so much that she was afraid she eyebrows might burn off. Paul's face was entirely expressionless. He remained so for an aggravating stretch of time until Dawn demanded heatedly,

"Say something!"

"Save it, Dawn," he said flatly. She flared up instantly,

"No! We're not doing this! I'm trying to build a friendship here! Maybe even more. We're not gonna sit here and hide stuff and fight each other and-and…" she trailed off. She could see his expression: his face was no longer a mask of stone. He was angry and she could see it in the angled lines of his face, and in his clenched jaws and fists, and most importantly in the glare of his cold black eyes.

"Stop pretending, okay?" His voice was a low, furious growl. "I know what you're up to and I know you don't care about anyone but yourself!"

Dawn gasped. "What are you talking about?"

"I was listening to your conversation with Brock that day at your apartment. 'I was being a total whore, running around from boy to boy…I'm glad I never got to Paul 'cause I know he'd hate me, and then I'd hate him.'" He mimicked my voice cruelly in a high and whiny falsetto.

"You were eavesdropping?"

He raised his hands, palms out, and claimed, "Hey, I was just going to the bathroom. It's not my fault you two talked so loudly."

Dawn didn't even have time to react because he continued in a stoic tone, "Girls like you are the worst, Dawn. Think they can twirl boys around their finger and control them. Like we're playthings."

His voice was so still and calm, but his eyes were angry. It reminded Dawn of those moments when Ash would defeat one of his Pokemon, and he would call out an even more powerful Pokemon that would crush him. Dawn was afraid and completely unsure of what to say. Finally she spluttered out,

"N-no, no, you've got it all wrong! That's not how it went! You're completely misunderstanding me."

"Forget it," he said.

Dawn complained, "Can't you talk nicely to me for once? I have feelings, you know!"

"I had feelings too, Dawn. But when you said those words to Brock at your party, you obviously didn't care about my feelings."

She was at a loss for words. Her mind blanked; when she tried to process his words she might as well have asked her stomach to process an Onix tail. "What do you...mean? You had feelings for m-"

"I think you should leave."

She didn't move for a moment. "Fine, Paul," she murmured at last, her eyes locking onto his. The expression in her eyes was heartbreakingly melancholy, but underneath the sadness, Paul could see the fiery determination that made her such a good trainer. "But you can bet I'll be back."

And she left after giving him one last, longing look.

A/N: I officially give all my readers (if I still have any) permission to kill me. I swear I will have the next chapter out before the end of August. I swear! It's going to be the last one, but maybe I'll write an epilogue if my dear readers find the ending unsatisfying. How many of you think you know the ending to the story? =)


	11. Chapter 11

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON POV-*-*-**

Dawn had learned a lesson. Something _had_ come out of Zoey's stupid little challenge: Dawn found out she didn't belong with any of her guy friends. She had found them slightly cute and maybe attractive, but as little as just one date proved to her that it wouldn't have really worked out if she had stuck around. But yesterday, when she was talking with Paul, she had felt so excited-an excitement she hadn't felt since her days as a fresh teenager going on a date with Gary for the very first time.

Paul had to feel it too. She heard it! She knew she heard him say he had feelings for her...then he kicked her out of his house.

Should Dawn give up? No. That wasn't how she rolled…not anymore.

But what to do? ...What to do? How could a girl possibly break through the unbreakable rock that went by the name Paul? A passionate love letter? A box of chocolates? A gun to the head?

Dawn wished it were that simple, but she knew that not even a death threat would convince Paul that she wasn't out to play him. Her days of dating around were over. Paul was the only one she wanted. She had to prove it to him! But how, how, _how_?

**-*-*-DAWN'S POV-*-*-**

It took me a couple of days, several calls to May and Zoey, and more than a few emergency runs to the local chocolate shop, but I got it eventually: the perfect plan! I was going to prove to him that I was serious about an "us," and that there most definitely would be an "us." It may or may not involve a staple gun, three packs of potato chips, and a Jynx in heat. Just kidding, it wasn't _that_ crazy.

But I still thought it was still pretty crazy. Nevertheless, it would work. It had too work.

**-*-*-THIRD PERSON POV-*-*-**

It was an ordinairy day for Paul: training his Pokemon to be the best from 6AM to 9AM, then exercising alone so he could be the very best from 9AM to 12AM.

He bent over with his hands on his knees, panting hard from all the running he just did. After catching his breath for a few moments, he straightened up and placed his hands behind his head and walked back to his house for lunch. His stomach growled and he winced. He always ate just a light breakfast before heading out to train. It was good for him, because he needed to teach himself self-control. But when it came time for lunch, he didn't hold back. He was a teenage boy, after all.

As he hurried up his porch steps, he almost slipped on a letter some idiot left lying there. Frowning, he picked it up and examined it, but the only thing printed on it was his name. No return address. There was a dirty footprint on it from his sneaker, but he ignored it and just ripped open the envelope.

_What the hell...pink stationery? _He warily scanned it.

"Dear Paul," the letter read. "I hope you had a nice morning! I hope the rest of your day will be great too, but you don't have to worry about that. I'll make sure that you have an awesome day, but pretty pretty pretty please just tune into Channel 2 tonight at eight o'clock. If you like the surprises I'm gonna leave you, just return the favor by watching then, okay? Love, Your Secret Admirer."

A secret admirer? That was a first for Paul. It was also mildly creepy. Probably just some random girl he'd never even met who just stalked him on the trainer channel on TV or something. He shrugged it off and stepped into the house.

"Reggie!" he yelled into the house. "I'm home! And hungry!"

No answer. He stomped into the kitchen, angry that he would have to make his own lunch, which would undoubtedly taste like crap 'cause he was the type to burn everything he tried to make. To his surprise, a foot-long sandwich was waiting for him on the table. "Uh, Reggie?" Who came into his house and made a sandwich for him, if it weren't Reggie. He lifted the top slice of bread to check for poisonous substances but all he saw was a message written in ketchup,

"Have a nice lunch!"

Paul debated with himself for a moment. Eat his crappy cooking and die from stomach pains, or eat this random sandwich and die from food poisoning? He decided it would be less stupid to die from someone else's food than his own so he took a huge bite from the sandwich.

He closed his eyes in delight. So good! He devoured it in two minutes before tossing himself on the couch. A nap would be nice right about now...

He felt something wet touch his face just as his eye slid shut. "Huh?" he jumped up looking around. "Oh, Weavile, it's just you. Wait," he paused looking over his Pokemon carefully. "Did you get groomed when I was out exercising by myself?"

Weavile nodded and responded with a cheerful "Wea!" His other Pokemon, all of whom were playing outside, looking into the windows at their trainer. They all looked remarkably clean and tidy, seeing how they just finished training a coupld of hours ago.

_Guess I won't have to clean them_, he mused to himself. _This _is_ turning into a good day!_

_

* * *

_

Later that day, after he took a relaxing nap on his couch, he headed to his bedroom to check his computer. When he opened his email account, he saw an email marked with a red flag. Curious, he clicked on it and immediately it started to play a cheer,

"This is Paul, he's the best!

He'll put your training to the test!

Send out your Dragons, Steel, or Fighting,

His team will set them all to crying!"

After a short pause, the cheery, girly voice continued,

"Paul, Paul, Paul!

He is going to win it all!

You shouldn't bother just to cheat,

No matter what he can't be beat!"

She finished with a squealing, "GOOOOOOO, PAUL!"

At the start of the cheer, Paul had jumped up from the chair, completely startled. As it progressed, he backed away inch by inch, thoroughly mortified. And when it ended, he breathed a sigh of relief before returning to his computer. The email itself read,

"Hope the cheers made you smile, Paul!"

_Not quite_, he thought.

"Just wanted to remind you that you're the best!" It said at the end of the email.

_Well_, he thought begrudgingly. _That was nice of her.._._I guess_. And it most definitely was a girl, 'cause no boy had a high-pitched voice like that. Come to think of it, the voice sounded familiar. He could recognize that voice anywhere. But, it couldn't be her. No way.

* * *

Paul took a shower to cool off. Personally, he liked his scent of the outdoors and sweat on him-he found it to be like a badge of honor of how hard he's worked, and it was a decidedly manly scent. Reggie said it disgusting and unhygienic, but that was Reggie for ya. As he got out of the shower, towel-drying his hair and pulling his pajamas on, he heard a faint creaking noise coming outside from his porch. He bolted down the steps and flung the door open, glaring. The young boy kneeling on his porch screamed.

"Whoa! Sorry. Wasn't expecting you," Paul said.

The boy's knees shook nervously as he mumbled, "This was delivered to be delivered to you, sir." The delivery boy held out an enormous basket-about two-thrids of the boy's size-filled with berries. Paul gaped. He assessed the situation and without warning, scooped the kid up by his collar and demanded,

"Do you know who ordered this?"

The boy squealed and shook his head.

Paul softened up and put the him down. "Sorry again, kid, didn't mean to get all threatening on you. It's just that I've been stalked all day..."

The delivery boy had already run off. Paul shook his head. What a wimp.

He hauled the fruit basket inside and ripped off the plastic covering. It was elaborately formed, with the berries delicately placed together in ways they really weren't meant to be placed. Still, it looked mouthwatering and it smelled fresh and delicious. He spotted a note attached to the very top of the fruit-decoration-thing and snatched it up.

"Dear Paul, You said you didn't like chocolate, right? Well, here's a bunch of healthy fruit to make you smile and to keep you satisfied! Love, Your Secret Admirer."

Deep down, Paul hoped this _Admirer_ person would keep sending him berries. He and his Pokemon all loved them. He popped one into his mouth before calling out his Pokemon to join the feast.

* * *

Overall, it really wasn't an ordinary day. It wasn't a bad one though-it was one of the nicest, most relaxing days he's had in a while, and he owed it all the the Mystery Girl. A day without Reggie nagging him, a day without having to clean, and a day with all this free food being thrown at him was something worth celebrating. Paul thought he should return the favor, just like the first note had asked. It was only fair. He plopped down on the couch and pressed the power button on the remote and flipped to Channel 2.

"And here we are, with the first contest of this season!" Marian's irritating voice blared from the speakers.

The coordinator's channel? He was really expected to watch _this_? He grumbled and groaned but stayed on the channel and munched on the few berries that remained. He was a man of his word, even if his manliness would be lost by keeping that word.

"And first up for appeals, we have a crowd's favorite-DAWN!"

He sat up suddenly in his seat and choked on the berry. He hacked until it flew out of his mouth and onto the screen, just centimeters away from where Dawn's face appeared. Quickly, he got up and wiped it off with his sleeve, all the while staring at her face.

_...She was so pretty..._

Dawn called out from the television, "Buneary, spotlight!" She started straight into the appeal. "Okay, Dizzy Punch-you know what to do!"

Paul watched as the Buneary twirled around while punching the ground steadily, creating ruts. It moved faster and faster, all the while keeping up a steady stream of punches.

"Bounce," Dawn ordered. The camera panned upwards to capture the Buneary flying gracefully into the sky. Paul could hear Dawn call, "Quickly, Ice Beam!"

"Bun!" Her Pokemon yelled as it charged up the power. It released the ice beam, aiming it straight towards the ground where it had created all those ruts. Only then did Paul see what the Pokemon had created with its Dizzy Punches: his name, surrounded by a giant heart. Thanks to Buneary's Ice Beam, his name was now rooted into the contest arena's ground. The sunlight sparkled on the ice, making it look rather dazzling as it reflected rainbows onto the crowd, and Buneary skated back and forth on the words she had created. The camera zoomed in on Dawn to show her smiling and giving the camera a shy wink.

Paul froze. It felt like he was getting that wink and smile personally. He didn't even hear Marian and the crowd buzzing with excitement as they speculated over who Dawn's contest appeal could've been dedicated to. "Who is this "Paul", Dawn?" Marian asked, bewildered, but Dawn just shook her head and silently waited for the judges' critique.

Paul didn't hear or see any of it. His head was buzzing with all sorts of thoughts and emotions. Had that just happened? Was that real? Annoyed by the noise that blocked his thinking process, he shut off the TV and shuffled to his room, dazed. That couldn't have just happened.

* * *

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Uhhmfgaahhhh," Paul moaned as he rolled off his bed and landed on the floor. Who had the nerve to tap on his window and wake him up so late at night?

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Paul stumbled to his window and threw it open only to find himself face to face with...

Dawn?

"What are you..." he said, not quite sure if this was a dream or not. He rubbed his eyes with his palm and tried to focus. "AH!" He yelled and jumped back from the window. Dawn was ouside his house, watching him...and he wasn't wearing a shirt! He grabbed one and hastily pulled it over his head before leaning out his first-story window and hissing at her,

"What are you _doing_ out there?"

"I-"

"Do you _even_ know what _time_ it is?"

"Wel-"

"Seriously, I need some sleep!"

"WOULD YOU STOP INTERRUPTING." Dawn snapped. She blushed immediately and added, "Sorry...didn't mean to do that."

He gazed at her for an instant before insisting, "No, it's my fault. Should've let you continue."

"Okay," Dawn smiled. "Now that we have established that, let's try and hear me out."

Paul quickly intervened, "First answer this: what are you doing?"

Dawn winked, "All in good time, Paul. So did you get my note?"

It was her. It was her all along. Paul sort of knew it inside of his heart. No, not his heart-in a manlier organ. Like his stomach or something. "Which note?" He asked. "The first, second, or millionth one?"

"What can I say?" She said with a giggle. "I'm the kind of girl you take note of."

Paul shook his head and said shortly, "Bad. Very bad pun."

Dawn shrugged lightly and said in a carefree tone, "Can't say I don't try."

"I would rather you didn't."

Dawn grinned widely. Was Paul-rockhard Paul (not like that, you perverts!)-actually exchanging lighthearted banter with her? "You're bantering with me!"

Paul lifted an eyebrow coolly. "Who even uses that word nowadays?"

"Who uses the word 'nowadays'?" She shot back.

Paul opened his mouth to retort, but she shook her head at him. "We're getting seriously off topic, and I'm sure at this late hour, you want to sleep, not talk to me."

He nodded in agreement, so she continued, "I'll make it short and sweet 'cause that's how you like to talk. I did all this to prove to you that I do care for you...a lot. And I was hoping you would return the feeling?" She said, her eyes nearly shining with hope in the darkness of the night. However, his expression remained unchanged. He said slowly, as if he were deliberating over every word before putting it out,

"That still doesn't change what you said at the party."

Dawn sighed, and for the first time that night she looked sad. "I'm changed now, Paul. I've...I've been through a lot of...stuff, and it's really helped me see what's important in life."

Paul shook his head as he leaned against the windowpane, his dark eyes still unchanging. "I can't believe that."

Dawn couldn't believe she was hearing this. She didn't want to hear this, she wasn't going to hear this.

"But that's why I did all this!" Dawn threw her hands up exasperatedly. "Everything! I got Reggie to sneak that food I made into your house to show you I could take care of you. I convinced him to help me groom your Pokemon-to show you I care about your Pokemon as I do you. I convinced him to stay away to show you I could give you space. I wrote that flipping cheer to show you I'd always be there for you. I ordered that berry basket to show you I care about what you want. I went on that contest to show the world what I'd do for you." Her voice grew quieter and she locked eyes with him, showing the most serious expression he'd ever seen on her. "I came here tonight to show _you _what I'd do for you."

Paul was as stoic as ever, but inside he couldn't help but feel...happy. He could admit it to himself now: he had a crush on Dawn. Ever since she and Ash seperated as a traveling group, he had been interested. It grew from an interest to something _more_. He hadn't known what to do. What was a guy like him supposed to do around a girl like her? Pokemon had always come first to him and girls were a distraction. So he waited. She had been dating that Oak kid and he hadn't seen her in quite a while. But then she had invited him to that celebratory party, and she had accepted his jacket, and he was so excited that he didn't know what to say or do. He stupidly didn't ask for a second chance.

Then he heard all sorts of crazy things from blabbering little Ash. Then Dawn was with Oak again-and then she wasn't. It was all so confusing. Women were so confusing. But when he'd misunderstood what she'd said to Brock on his way to the bathroom, he told himself to give up. He told himself not to be happy that she had shown up unexpected at his door. He told himself to kick her out of his house when he felt himself falling for her again.

Now here she was, entirely ready for him. Was he ready for her?

Not breaking eye contact, he jumped over the edge of his window and landed neatly in front of her. And smiled.

Dawn melted. The night breeze blew through his hair and when he that ghost of a smile appeared on his face, she wanted to scream and faint. Instead she said,

"You know, I'm thinking it must hurt for you to smile. I would have thought those facial muscles would've given out and disappeared from such abandonment."

He teased her right back, "Oh, yeah, standing outside my window and throwing pebbles is so original."

"Hey! It's what they do in movies and it always works. Although a song is usually sung as you stand on a balcony...and the gender roles should be reversed," she giggled again.

"I have a one story house," he pointed out. "I didn't know you could play an instrument. And it did work."

_And it did work..._That was all Dawn heard. "Why, Paul? Why did you pick me, of all people?"

Paul shifted his feet and cleared his throat uncomfortably. She was so close to him..."Er, 'cause you're pretty. And I admit you are a good trainer. And you're everything I'm not."

Dawn grinned widely, stepping closer. She was near enough to see the blush that faintly appeared on his face. "I like you, too, Paul."

The blush was clear on his face. He didn't like feeling so weak. He would normally loathe it, but since it was Dawn, maybe he could make an exception. He touched her face hesitantly, and she leaned closer. Paul felt so unbelievably awkward, but he couldn't help but feel _right _when he kissed her gently.

Dawn noticed he hadn't said "I like you too" but she understood Paul. He was a man of few words, but a man of many emotions. And that was good enough for her-especially when she got to kiss him like this. If there was a second thing she'd learned from Zoey's challenge, it was that you couldn't ever bet on love. It was meant to be found in the most unexpected ways, and with the most unexpected people. It was unpredictable and painful, but there will always be someone who makes it worth it. And hey, that was love.

**-*-*-THE END-*-*-**

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **What do you think, my lovely readers? An epilogue should be added, or was it enough as it ended?

For all other shippers, I'm sorry to disappoint! In all honesty, it was always going to be either Cavalier or Ikari shipping, but the sheer overwhelming numbers of requests for Ikari won over in the end. I really hope I didn't disappoint too much! Did anyone notice how in the summary, the boys are in order? ^-^

Wow, I have just a couple minutes till the officially end of August. I promised I would post this before the end of the month and here it is!

Anyway, I will post my thankyous and acknowledgments in a few days, in case I (hopefully) get a few more readers ^-^

Hope this chapter was to your liking, if so, review! If not, review!

Always,

Your Heart's Melody


	12. Acknowledgements

**A/N:** I'm going rewrite this, 'cause personally, I'm not happy about with the story's flow. I feel like there's a lot to be tightened up, and my readers deserve to know what happens with all the other characters besides Paul and Dawn-but no worries, I'm not going to make major changes to the plotline. I'm going to edit it and the chapters should be republished by the end of September at most, so look forward to that! By the way, would everyone prefer shorter chapters, or did you prefer how it was broken up so that each chapter was about one boy?

**IMPORTANT!** I already have an idea for my next story...but I need to decide which characters I'm going to use. So please, tell me which ships are your favorite in a review or PM, and the one with the most votes is going to be the main feature. I'll need two couples, so give me your all time favorite shipping, and then give me your second. If one of your favorites is Ikarishipping, please give me a backup in case I decide against it, which I might since I already wrote an Ikarishipping story and I want to try something new =)

Onto the acknowledgements!

Please read this, even though it's not a chapter! If you reviewed, look for your screen name; it's alphabetically ordered! Even if you didn't, all names are alphabetical =)

**Thanks to all 29 people who alerted me**: Almiaranger, Ashton Nauran, azngurl113219, Blazie, Bluestorm1990, Bradley5455, Chelra, D3sstorjo, Empoleon4eva, Fire Drastar, foxsadist712, GeeGee-Chan, Ikarishipping4ever, JLCLover, Melisa Mistick, nhojekimsabig, Orlo10, PlatinaBirds, Pokeshipper-Reborn, Poliwhirl42, pontiger27, RealisRose, redneck16, ShadetheEchidna666, ShadowYashi, shortnsweet615, SquirrelGirl8, The biggest ikarishipping Fan, and xPikachu-Princessx! You guys made me smile when you clicked the "add to alerts" button. Really, it was awesome knowing that people actually about what went on in my story!

**Thanks to all 36 people who favorited **_**Don't Ever Bet on Love**:_ Aiko HanaKai, Almiaranger, AugustSummerXxX, AuthorOfHope, D3sstorjo, DaRkMiDnIgHtSnEaKyCaT, Empoleon4eva, foxsadist712, HolyOnigri, Ice Blue Moon, Ikarishipping4ever, IntoTheBlaze, Jellyfur, Kei's-Girl, KuraiDawn, laucristi, Lightning the Fencer, Loliverse, , Orlo10, PokemonRules14, Pokeshipper-Reborn, Poliwhirl42, Poppystream, RealisRose, redneck16, rose-the-magicat, RoseMasterD87, ShadowYashi, shortnsweet615, sugar and limes, TaichiWind, The biggest ikarishipping Fan, XX-ThEwOrLdNeEdSaChAnGe-XX, youfarted, and YuuYuu-chan! Favoriting my story really means a lot...it's touching and heartwarming to see people "favorite" what I consider pretty crappy XD

Wow you guys have the coolest pen names. Seriously.

**LOTS AND LOTS of thanks to my reviewers:**

-Aiko HanaKai: SO glad you liked the ending! Thanks for taking time to review =)

-A La DarkAngel: Awesome name! Thanks for reviewing...I remember worrying about the chapter you reviewed but I'm glad you didn't hate it.

-Almiaranger: My very first reviewer-ever! Thanks so much for reviewing so often-I love dedicated reviewers like you.

-Anon: Thanks for reviewing, and thanks for enduring the Ikari-ness!

-AuthorOfHope: Thanks for being with the story since its early days! And thanks for all the idea exchanges, and especially thanks for putting up with my insanity!

-Arysd: I've always wondered what your name meant...anyway thanks for the reviews!

-Ashton Nauran: One of those people who guessed right with the ending...kudos! Thanks for all the (extremely, _extremely_) supportive reviews. They honestly did make me smile!

-azngurl113219: Are you Asian? I am too ^-^ Your reviews came at a completely random time for me, but I remember how your review reminded me to keep writing ^-^

-bianca: Thanks for being one of the few Cavaliershippers who reviewed! Wanna know a secret? It'll probably be in my next story...

-D3sstorjo: Another Ikarishipper. Now does everyone see why I decided to end with it? I have so many sweet and persuasive Ikarishipping reviewers like you!

-DaRkMiDnIgHtSnEaKyCaT: That was hell to spell out, so eventually I just copy and pasted. Your review was really sweet, thanks for that =)

-DarkMidnightVelvet: Another Ikarishipper who I hope liked the ending I wrote ^-^

-dewdrop06: Another multiple reviewer! Thanks for giving your honest opinions (they're helpful!) and thanks for all the reviews=)

-Empoleon4eva: Your review was really helpful in convincing me to write faster, so thanks for reviewing!

-Kissy Fishy: Another name I love, and another Ikarishipper. And I can't believe you wrote four reviews in a row-most people read the story and just write a review for the last chapter! I hope you enjoyed your Ikari ending ^-^

-mednin: One o the Ikarishippers who convinced me to write so. Thanks for the review!

-Miss Moo-moo Pettle Pot: I'm glad you liked the awkwardness ^-^ Thanks for reviewing!

-NightCore: I'm glad you didn't hate the awkwardness ^-^ But anyway, thanks so much for reviewing ever since the beginning. That was incredibly sweet of you and I'm impressed with your dedication to this story =)

-Pearlshipping677: Thanks for spotting that mistake, and oodles of thanks for reviewing!

-PlatinaBirds: Your short and sweet reviews made me happy just as much as long reviews did =)

-Poliwhirl42: Thanks for the helpful reviews! I loved how they were both helpful AND supportive! And YES! You're a Cavaliershipper too! YOU ROCK.

-RealisRose: I alwasy loved your name. Thanks for reviewing so much! You like cavaliershipping, right? I'm considering using it next... 0.o

-Rosie: Thanks for reviewing! I'm a Lucas lover too. I'll make sure when I rewrite it that he gets a happy ending.

-ShadowYashi: Ha, I was caught between Gary and Paul too...hope you weren't too disappointed with the outcome. Thanks for the reviews!

-shortnsweet615: Ever since you started reviewing, every review made me smile cause they were so encouraging. They were short but sweet, just like you name! Thanks for sticking with my story =)

-SleepySheep: Cute name! Thanks a lot for pointing out so many things from the entire story in your review...so helpful! I hope you like my rewrite, and the epilogue I'm going to add =)

-SquirrelGirl8: A dedicated Twinleafshipper-so sorry to disappoint! Still, your reviews were really encouraging =) so thanks a bajillion!

-sugar and limes: I'm so glad you liked the ending and thanks for reviewing!

-The biggest ikarishipping Fan: The person who inspired me with her writing. Her awesome stories made me want to write awesome stories. When you reviewed, I felt a little bit like I was talking to a celebrity, so thanks so much for reviewing x)

-TaichiWind: Thanks a lot for reading all 67,000+ words...that was really nice of you! ^-^

-Virgo Writer: my harshest critic, and my most helpful one. You have no idea how much your reviews opened my eyes, but thanks a lot for your help.

-zetroC Girl™: I loved all your reviews! They made me laugh XD

And thanks to anyone else who reviews/alerts/favorites after I publish this. I won't be able to add you name to the list, but I honestly and genuinely appreciate everything my readers do. Thanks you for putting up with the insanity of Don't Ever Bet on Love, and I'm glad you all enjoyed it. I wish all readers could be as awesome as mine have been =)

And here's something I decided to do with the help of GoogleTranslate, so if I'm incorrect, I'm really, really, sorry-but it's not my fault!

Thank you! Terima kasih! ¡Gracias! Salamat! Σας ευχαριστώ! Grazie! Vielen Dank! Ďakujem vám! Ačiū! Благодаря ви! 谢谢！Go raibh maith agat! Tak! شكرا لك!

Honestly, it was so cool seeing how many people from so many different countries clicked on this story. It's an honor, so thank you all foreigners!

Hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you soon! Parting is such bitter sweet sorrow...


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